Ah, I make no claims about how good cell phone coverage was in the disaster area for the first week, mostly about how it was if you just traveled a short distan

Ah, I make no claims about how good cell phone coverage was in the disaster area for the first week, mostly about how it was if you just traveled a short distance from it. Although I think I recall it not being bad in subsequent weeks, and, I would be using it from the edge of the zone of total destruction, and a hundred feet or so away from what was likely a tower of my provider. But I wasn't using it heavily there, at most for coordination while on-site removing stuff from my apartment. You were also several miles to my west, in the direction the tornado came from. I also had the advantage of being on a hill, that might not have been true for you. But we agree in that such a device is not to be depended upon; I'd say at best something to hold in reserve, and mention of affordable emergency Iridium systems like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11701692 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11701692 has gotten my interest.