OK call me crazy but
Why couldn't the call centers be staffed with
American evacuees who needed jobs?
Besides the time factor because the evacuees will make more off of federal aid then they would working.
Not trained to answer the phone?
You're crazy (just kidding).
Excellent point.
Well, then you would need a working communications room, fully operational in an area outside of the zone affected by the hurricane, and you'd need to gather evacuees and teach them how to use the equipment in a very short time. This was a fully-operational, staffed call center out of harm's way, already connected to a local business, ready to operate at a moment's notice. Seems reasonable to me... or am I missing something?
"Why couldn't the call centers be staffed with
American evacuees who needed jobs?"
Have you ever been in a call center? They are not built in a day. Also, you would have to deal with getting phone lines into the center, as well as other infrastructure.
I hope that ABC News is not implying that the distance of the phone call mattered.