When the tower is in the river

Rosa’s clinic cannot reach the hospital after the flood. The cell tower by the bridge is underwater, and the landlines are out. Staff write names and medical needs on paper because the usual communication system has failed.

The immediate problem is not restoring every service. It is getting a short, reliable message from the clinic to the hospital: who is at the gym, who needs transport, and what supplies are missing. A message can travel by more than one path, but someone must know which path is available and how to use it.

Reedford has two unused options. A satellite kit is locked in a closet, but the clinic does not have its password or working power. A few local phones can send slow satellite texts outdoors, but the clinic staff do not know that service exists.

Those details matter because emergency communication depends on equipment, power, access instructions, and trained people—not only on the network itself.

For the first day, the clinic needs a simple operating plan: identify one person to activate the available link, keep the contact list in one place, and send updates on a schedule. The plan should still work if the phone company cannot reach the town for several days.