Big Ideas Save Lives

Jet Balloon

Posted: April 24, 2019

From a pole in Isabela, Puerto Rico, a transmitter sends a low-frequency wi-fi signal as part of an island-wide disaster communication system. (AP)
Members of the Project OWL team send up a helium-filled balloon carrying a transmitter to be tested. (AP)
A laptop computer shows messages during a test of a communication network for use after disasters on Puerto Rico. (AP)
Researchers check signals used in Project OWL (Organization, Whereabouts, and Logistics). (AP)
The north and east coasts of Puerto Rico face the Atlantic Ocean. The south and west shores face the Caribbean Sea. (AP)

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Phones fail. People can’t call for help. Only one radio station survives. Police, firefighters, and emergency responders can’t talk. People are in trouble. But they can’t get help quickly. Hurricane Maria is a double disaster!

Hurricane Maria smacked the island of Puerto Rico in 2017. No one was prepared! Downed trees blocked roads. Fires broke out. People couldn’t communicate. Without electricity, the days were dark and lonely. Phone batteries died. People waved flags. The flags meant, “Please bring water!” They banged pots and pans for attention. Messages like “WE NEED FOOD,” and “SOS,” were scribbled in big letters on roads.

City officials walked to neighborhoods trying to help. “It was a bit like going back to the start of humanity,” says Mayor Carlos Delgado. “Everything was done on foot.” The officials tried to find out: Who needs food? Does everyone have water? Is medicine missing? Are all family members found? But a few people can only do so much without good communication! Help was just too slow in coming. Almost 3,000 people died.

Hurricane season starts on June 1. This year, tech developers are ready. One hundred thousand developers submitted their ideas and inventions in a contest. They all had to answer the same questions: How can we get ready for disasters? How can we help after disasters come? Now the developers are ready to test their ideas in Puerto Rico.

One team uses Velcro to stick tiny transmitters to trees. The boxes send out a Wi-Fi connection. In an emergency, people can connect their phones to the internet and ask for help. Another developer thought of an idea for large doormats with symbols on them. The mats would be visible from the sky. Drones could relay the symbols for food, water, or medical care to emergency responders. Google employees try out ideas too. They hope to use balloons to beam internet access. This could connect people stranded by a storm.

Hurricane season is practically here. But so are these big ideas! Could Velcro, balloons, drones, or doormats help save lives? Do you have an idea that could help people when disaster strikes?

Nevertheless, He looked upon their distress, when He heard their cry. ― Psalm 106:44