Community volunteers and residents in Houbi, Tainan, are setting up a communications channel that can still relay disaster information during power and network outages — good news for local disaster preparedness.

• In a disaster, if the power goes out or base stations are damaged, phones lose signal and the internet goes down, leaving disaster reports stranded; this backup system is meant to fill that gap.
• A hands-on workshop organised by the Houbi District Office had borough chiefs, community volunteers, self-organised disaster prevention teams and local young people practise installing software, connecting equipment, configuring channels, sending and receiving messages, and filing disaster reports.
• The system uses low-power, long-range wireless communication technology (LoRa) and a mesh network system (Meshtastic), allowing basic messages to be exchanged without relying on telecom base stations.
• The team installed solar-powered nodes on street lights, working step by step through equipment testing, regulatory research and coordination with the local community.
• Local groups stressed that disaster preparedness cannot rely on government agencies alone, and that communities need to divide up contact and reporting duties in advance.

Outlook: Houbi's experience deploying and testing the nodes is expected to be compiled into a replicable model that can be promoted to other communities.