[George W. Bush]

It is like impossible to get into some of these areas. There are NO cell towers working in some of those areas. No landlines, no power and impossible roads, bridges out and the authorities are trying their best to keep people out. And people expect accurate news this early?

A lot of folks here are saying the same thing so I thought I'd respond to this line of thinking, though I'm not trying to pick on you personally.

If this is true, then exactly how did the person who called our poster and relate the facts on this thread manage to call him? Even if he has "an emergency cell phone" then it can't work without a tower, can it? And if any local cell towers were still working, then why don't we have a lot of these reports instead of this one lonely report of thousands of dead bodies in trees? Given the numbers of people who evacuated from the areas, any working cell towers would have plenty of traffic capacity for anyone who remains or for rescue workers.

And if these areas are so hard to reach, how are they bringing out the bodies (from the trees) "30 at a time". For that matter, why this magical number of 30? Is that how many fit in an Army truck? Or a shrimp boat?

[TrebleRebel]

Emergency cell phones don't use cells, they use satellites. They can be used anywhere on earth.

[DB]

You know, there are other forms of communications besides cell phones and cell towers... Amateur radio, CB radio, etc. Emergency and LE personnel have their own radios independent of the the cell phone system too...

[JennysCool]

Geez, GWB -- My Favorite Headache isn't exactly a newbie poster. He's been around as long as you have, and lots of us give him credibility.

Katie Couric doesn't have a monopoly on reporting news. There have been some huge stories reported right here, first.

[tx_eggman]

If this is true, then exactly how did the person who called our poster and relate the facts on this thread manage to call him? Even if he has "an emergency cell phone" then it can't work without a tower, can it?

The media types and Emergency Responders are using satellite phones, not cells ... which few, if any, of the survivors would have access to. Cell towers being down doesn't impact these phones.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

People got out of the area very hard. In St. Tammany, by Slidell, there were no passable roads for over a day.

Today and tomorrow we will begin to find real news as roads have been detreed. This area, once you get off the coastline, is mostly piney woods. Tons of trees down.

Very few people have gotten out. Today begins the flood of news and people as the roads become usable.

[BJClinton]

Just so you know, I worked for AT&T Wireless as a network tech for 5 years. Many celltowers have generators and all have battery back-up. When an emergency is declared, the normal phone lines are blocked and only phones desgnated as "emergency" will work on any channels. These phones are given out to supervisors of rescue teams in situations like this. As My Favorite Headache said her friend was an paramedic so it's quite resonable for him to have a working cell. Also, many towers can transmit tower-to-tower in the event landlines are cut.