Re: you suggestion on VOA/BBC
in my coup experience we had a guy in the hotel who had his damned BBC feed stuck to his ear and pronouncing everything they said as truth.
it was both annoying and ironic, because (a) we were THERE, in the middle of it, and didn;t need no damned BBC reporter telling us what wqas happeneing, and (b) fog of war, nothing they said was accurate, up to date, helpful, or even close to what we were seeing with our own eyes.
we threatened to smash his shortwave if he didn't shut the hell up.
anyway, during fog of war, nobody knows anything, it's just a matter of hunkering down, taking care of yourself, and waiting for it to end.
biggest thing i learned was "Do Not Walk Upright In Hotel Corridor, Crawl."
...and sleep (if you can sleep) in an interior hallway.
In my experience trapped in an Arab country during a terrorist seige several years ago, the airport was shutdown and the international phone lines were cut. The outside world had no idea there was a problem for a couple of days - until the BBC started reporting on it and giving instructions from the F.O.
Our friend in Beirut does have working communications today. But if the phone lines are cut, a shortwave radio may be the only way to obtain information about evacuation.