Special Projects

Recovering from Hurricane Katrina

The Midwest director for Data Cell, a general contractor in the wireless telecommunications industry, tells what it was like to restore cell sites in the New Orleans area following Hurricane Katrina.

by Fred Teichman

After Hurricane Katrina damaged cell sites in the New Orleans area, the first thing carriers asked was, "Tell us what we have left. Is a site down because of power interruption? Are any antennas left? If there is at least one sector left, could we restore one vs. none at all?"

In some cases, the logistics of getting to the sites was the first problem because of the water level and military control of some areas. Our customers, Sprint Nextel, Verizon and T-Mobile, did a good job of obtaining access authorization for us. That allowed us to do initial work on behalf of tower owners, which was to clear debris and secure the sites, so additional work could be performed on behalf of the carriers.

The tower companies had responsibility to clean debris for the carriers to get in. If a carrier had to get in for reconnaissance and to send a crew to the site, the tower company would ask us to give them access. It was common to remove trees and damaged equipment for the tower companies.

On our first visit to a site, we would repair what we could. If an antenna was found dangling, we would decommission it. We secured what we could, realigned antennas and turned on what equipment was functional. At the same time identify what we replacements were needed. Sometimes the wind had swung the t-booms around, damaging an antenna or two and jumper cables.

The next trip out was to take the materials to make the site more operative. The acquisition of some equipment ran a little behind, but we installed what was available to make a temporary fix.

As an example, if a site operated at a level Nextel said were sufficient, we would wait for materials. If not, we would go back for the temporary repair. And then a third time to finish. That approach may not sound efficient, but it worked to get as many coverage holes filled as possible.

We had comments from the military giving us "thumbs up" on getting Nextel up and operating because the push-to-talk service was popular with them. We did so much work in hurricane recovery because the position of our office is 14 miles west-northwest of New Orleans. That was at the ending point of the major damage. The location became a logistical hub because it’s at the intersection of I-10 and I-55. We shut down operations for two days during the hurricane, and resumed operations quickly.

The facility became a hub for material, temporary generators and field resources. Our two buildings in Laplace both are office-warehouse combinations with a fenced yard, and it normally is underutilized. During the repair effort following the hurricane, the facility’s capacity was put to the test. Every square inch was put to use, for temporary storage of generators and replacement materials for damaged antennas and lines, for feeding the workers and even housing some of them. Many employees’ homes were destroyed. They couldn’t go back to their homes.

Carriers were asking for warehouse space and lodging for some of their crews. T-Mobile brought in crews, and we provided crews for Sprint Nextel and Verizon. We built temporary showers and brought in security guards to police the compounds. The first week, family members did the cooking. Access to food was limited; we sent people to shop for food in cities to the north.

Most of our own operations were shifted to half of the facility’s space; and Sprint Nextel leased the other half. They worked hand in hand with us in reconnaissance work to determine access to sites affected by flooding, to determine, what the damage was and how quickly could sites could be powered up and restored. Nextel’s was one of the first networks to become operational. Our company didn’t do all the work, but we were one of the lead contractors.

During the first week, it was common for some to carry firearms because of security. Guards and security escort services were used in the first and second weeks. Then the nature of the problem became less about security issue and more about logistics.

We looked at sites for Global Signal and American Tower, among others. American Tower lost a number of towers in the southern portion of the area. Venice, LA, was one town where sites were wiped out. Shelters were taken off the foundations and towers were knocked down. You could see the different water levels at the sites. When the crews started getting access to determine the damage it was amazing.

In the Data Cell yard, crews would prepare new shelters with base station equipment and perform swaps in the field, almost a plug-and-play substitution. By the third week, temporary generators were in extensive use. Generators would arrive at the Laplace facility 40 and 50 at a time. We would hook them up to pickup trucks and deploy them to sites. Many of the trucks carried 100-gallon fuel tanks for refueling generators, but sometimes the generators were swapped out. It was easier to do that sometimes than to fuel them. Generators were changed out so frequently that there was a line of semis waiting to have generators off-loaded and pickups waiting to take them to sites.

Our company used our own employees and employees from a network of contractors who work for us 90 percent of their time. To our customers, our contractors looked like our employees. We had to bring some workers from outside the area, and we had an aggressive recruiting effort.

Right at the time of the hurricane, Sprint and Nextel were in the process of merging their businesses. A conversion of antennas for both systems on some sites was in progress. In some instances, the hurricane caused a delay in returning to work on some of those sites, and in other instances, it speeded the timing of the carriers coming together. During the repair, we changed out the antennas because we would have needed to later, anyway.

Because so much of the population evacuated, the demand for network capacity was reduced. Some carriers adjusted their restoration schedules according to the reduced demand. In some cases, the use of a temporary repair for an extended period was justified.

We’re returned to finish repairs to sites with hurricane damage but sometimes the last bit of work wasn’t a high priority because the population wasn’t there. As people move back in, the sites become more critical to the network.

As an example, I inspected three sites owned by Global Signal where towers fell. They were older sites without much activity, it turned out that the company was better off not replacing the sites. Elsewhere, they lost valuable assets that we’re replacing. Most of the storm’s effects were negative, but in a few instances, the storm eliminated sites that might as well have been decommissioned.

It wasn’t the norm for towers to fall, though. Usually the attachments and the equipment down along the sides of the structures were subject to damage from wind and flying debris, and the equipment at the base would be damaged by floodwater. Lots of base stations were ruined. When coaxial cable was damaged, it usually was because apparatus was blown into it. It was more common to replace antennas and jumpers than the coax, though.

The work required employees with a variety of skills, including tower climbers, electricians, warehouse workers, logistics specialists and project managers. Field operators ran smaller equipment such as bobcats and trucks. Some electricians worked for us, and some directly for the carriers. In the temporary warehousing area, I met Nextel employees who had come from six or seven states.

Because we were all under the same roof, we had a lot of face time for planning sessions. Having everyone in the same place created a lot of energy, as opposed to using e-mail. The camaraderie was a great experience. Everyone worked, ate and relaxed together, and slept under the same roof. Despite the nature of the emergency, the late night poker games and different groups telling stories about what they saw was a good experience. You got to know your customers better than you normally would.

Once Nextel’s network was restored, there was a sense of relief. Then, with all the resources we had put in place, we said, "Let’s go find some work." We quickly marketed ourselves and found additional work restoring microwave services for Harris, Verizon and Alltel. We quickly marketed ourselves as we’re here and how can we help you.

The additional work extended our efforts and, as it turned, out, positioned us for work following more destruction soon caused by Hurricanes Rita and Wilma. Because of our work following Hurricane Katrina, we had the price points, equipment and resource skill sets ready.

Johnny King, the vice president of operations for Data Cell, said that the best-kept secret of the project is the safety record. "No accidents, no near misses, not even a cut finger," King said.

"Safety does not just happen. Thanks to Sprint Nextel we were encouraged to have our morning safety meetings. First-aid kits, gloves, ladders and countless other items were provided by the logistics operation of Sprint Nextel to ensure that every precaution was taken to help eliminate accidents. That effort was key to a successful safety program. We did a safety analysis on every job before the crews were allowed to climb the towers. Data Cell was running 10 to 14 crews in addition to Sprint Nextel’s own technicians and support personnel. The challenges we met in the effort to restore New Orleans communications were monumental. To really understand the gravity of the situation, and the effort required, you had to be there," King said.

Data Cell’s Chris Gansemer was the lead project manager, and John Burnett was responsible for all of the company’s project managers. The CFO, Steve Harmon, handled documentation that let everyone know what was going on. We were on time with materials, and we incentivized our people in several ways so they would benefit from their extra effort. The operation was going as much as 12 and 16 hours a day, and sometimes 24 hours a day.

The local employees had incidents of personal devastation of their own to deal with, yet they focused on work to help the carriers more so than their own property. On Sundays, some would return to their homes and after spending a week or two working out of the Laplace facility. I was amazed at the commitment to the customer over and above their personal problems and tragedies to help carriers get back on the air.

With some of the workers’ families staying at the Laplace facility for a time, there were fish fries and home cooking. I probably gained weight instead of starving on the military rations. They created a relaxed and comfortable environment so no matter what was going on from stress on the outside, base camp became comfortable.

By mid-November, things had settled down. People are taking a breather. Our company performed well in hurricane recovery. We’re launching a new Web site to market and support the activity we’ve been a part of and to prepare for growth in the future. We have an office in Knoxville, TN; two in Louisiana; one in Chicago and two temporary offices in Florida pending the selection of a permanent office there.

Data Cell is focused on a level of customer service of the old days, where it becomes relationship-driven. Everyone has been through the massive growth where you could make mistakes and still succeed. Everyone went through the downturn. Data Cell has taken its experiences and created an environment people want to be a part of. They become part of the family. If you want to, you could call it old school.

(As told to Don Bishop)

Project statistics

Responded to more than 85 damaged sites
Installed 23 temporary microwave hops
Replaced 10 shelters complete with base stations
Off-loaded 65 trailer loads of mobile generators
Replaced 7,000 feet of 1-5/8-inch coax
Replaced 10,000 feet of 7/8-inch coax
Set up and moved four COWS

Coverage Map

Hurricane Katrina Images