Wichita ? The response by emergency workers to a storm that spawned a tornado that ripped through Greensburg shared one element with the massive ice storm this winter that downed power lines for days in southwest Kansas.

It exposed vulnerabilities in the region’s cellular phone system – and particularly the dependence by emergency responders on cell phones – during a natural disaster, officials said.

In the critical first days following both disasters, communications were hampered by a lack of landline phones coupled with spotty or nonexistent cellular service.

Finding a better way

“We have to figure out a better safety system,” Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said in Greensburg shortly after the tornado hit.

At the time, Sebelius said she wanted to eventually meet with telecommunications companies to try to come up with a backup cellular system that could be put in place quickly after another disaster.

“A cell phone is critical in being able to communicate in a disaster,” said Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for the Kansas Emergency Management Agency. “Unfortunately, because it tends to be the one most relied-on resource, it means overloaded lines.”

Emergency responders in Greensburg had some satellite phones in the National Guard command vehicle and the Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer, but most of those helping after the tornado hit were relying on cell phones while out in the field.

Watson said she took cellular phones and devices from three different providers – Cingular, T-Mobile and Alltel – to Greensburg with her and there were times the day after the tornado hit that she could not get a call to go out on any one of them. Similar experiences were noted by emergency responders and reporters on the scene using Sprint Nextel Corp. and other cellular providers.

Companies blame power loss

Cellular companies blame the communication problems in Greensburg after the tornado, as well as in southwest Kansas during a massive ice storm in early January, on the loss of local electrical power needed to operate their wireless technology.

“Wireless technology works off power; whenever power is impacted the ability to keep up is impacted,” said Stephanie Walsh, spokeswoman for Sprint.

Cellular sites typically have backup generators that kick in during brief power outages, but those work for only a few hours. Wireless providers say governments can help make sure service is maintained during a disaster by having power generators on hand. Walsh said Sprint was able to restore its cell service two days after the May 4 tornado.

“Since the whole infrastructure of the city was badly affected, we then immediately brought in Cell on Wheels, or COW, which is a temporary wireless site,” Walsh said.

Although Sprint does not offer Nextel service in the Greensburg area, the company did notice many emergency workers coming into town were subscribers, so the company brought in a Satellite Cell on Light Truck, or SatCOLTS, within a week, which allowed the workers to use Nextel within a five-mile radius of Greensburg.

Sprint Nextel invested $27 million last year to expand its emergency response team, created in 2002, to assist emergency workers with relief efforts, Walsh said.

“There are a lot of very well thought out, thorough backup plans in place … to ensure our customers do have service,” Walsh said. “After an event like this, it depends on the severity of events and what happened.”

Cingular was among the first cellular providers to restore its service. It was up the day after the tornado, said Cingular spokeswoman Tara Traycoff. The company relies on a roaming partner to provide Cingular service in the Greensburg area.

The company brought in its own COW to restore service and even supplied fire and police personnel with phones to use for free during that time, Traycoff said.

Tips for customers

She also offered suggestions for cellular customers trying to communicate during an emergency situation when the system may be overloaded with calls.

One trick is to use text messages rather than voice because that pulls less on the cellular network, Traycoff said. She also advised customers to keep wireless phones and backup batteries charged if a storm is approaching.

And she suggested customers have a car charger for use during commercial power outages. If there is an evacuation, people should bring their wall charger with them as well, she said.