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The American Red Cross is doing everything it can to restore communications with its 300 shelters in the region devastated by Hurricane Katrina, the agency�s chief information officer said Friday.
The agency is making progress but �this disaster is on a scale we�ve never seen before,� said Steve Cooper, the Red Cross�s CIO and the former CIO at the Homeland Security Department.
�We have to plan that New Orleans as a city really won�t exist for the next six months,� Cooper said. Biloxi, Miss., is just as hard hit, he noted.
The Red Cross created a task force on Sept. 1 with several of its private-sector partners, including Microsoft, Cisco Systems and Cingular, Cooper said. These companies flew in personnel to provide satellite connectivity to all Red Cross shelters in the disaster area, he said.
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http://www.fcw.com/article90642-09-02-05-Web
- ferg