When everything else failed: Buncombe County’s disaster-resilient communications

Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida hundreds of miles from Buncombe County, but that didn’t stop it from causing widespread destruction in the county. The storm claimed 42 lives, triggered flooding and landslides, and caused the collapse of roads and loss of water supply in Asheville. To make matters worse, cellular, internet and fibre communications were disrupted.  

“We didn’t see cell service in any significant amount until two weeks later,” said Jason Haynes, Radio Systems Manager, Buncombe County Information Technology. “There were pockets of cell service because FirstNet and Verizon brought in cells on wheels (COWs), but it was very localized around local fire departments and various places in the smaller towns in the county.”

Surrounding counties were also devastated, requiring mutual aid and multi-agency cooperation. Interoperability across different devices and systems was critical (especially as most agencies have their own networks). 

Because Tait networks are built with open standards, Buncombe County was able to program encrypted radios from other agencies onto its network. Radios without encryption were instead programmed into the statewide VIPER system. 

Tait P25 systems provide end-to-end encryption, ensuring secure voice communications for public safety and emergency clients when it matters most. P25 standards are critical for the security of public safety. Find out more about Tait’s strong encryption and the key protections of P25 here.