Hurricane Irene is expected to hit North carolina in its full fury sometimes later today. Its progress can be tracked here.

We at the Theosophical Network are concerned about our members and all those people who may get affected by the hurricane. It is best to prepare as much as one can. And, crucial to that preparation is the information regarding from where help could be sought in case of emergency. John Mead has kindly provided two resources:

One item of emergency communication service that has been around and has a 100% reliability record, regardless of the disaster, is the Amateur Radio Relay services (world wide). (I am a member of ARES e.g.).
We have our own equipment with power backup (wind, solar, batteries, generators etc). Every Hospital, Red Cross Shelter, Police, Fire Dept. and especially Military can be reconnected (with privately supplied equipment) across multiple cities, counties, states and entire countries. This happens in less than an hour. Sometimes minutes. We have on-air meetings weekly. Emergency Service drills are regular events. Professional Storm Spotters make radio reports in real time.. Yes, we are also set up for digital relays and Internet operations.
Our Pennsylvania Area(s) have been double checking people/equipment/PowerBackup etc. all week.
We can operate across different radio bands at local levels and international levels (yes - people can reach India, Moscow, anywhere from their own home equipment or in worst case a couple radio hops via repeaters/relays.
Everyone does this for free and all are ready anytime.

It is a vast worldwide brotherhood of people with specialized skills. Most (my reason for getting involved) are there because we realize how fragile our system can be.

So - if all power goes out; All cell towers are gone; all landlines are down; Satellite Dishes destroyed, yes - communication will be there.
The worlds oldest emergency social network is very active.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amateur_radio_organizations
above may be the best place to look.
In the USA the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the central point of activity.
Each Country has its own rights and agreements which allow Amateur Radio Operators to co-exist world-wide. All countries cooperate willingly. It is considered a world-wide asset to promote communication expertise across a wide base of people internationally. The International Community has agreed upon "Bands" (frequencies) that allow the Amateurs freedom to develop new technologies. The bands/frequencies are almost always the same world-wide across countries(a few minor exceptions). Some Rogue countries do not participate nor have "agreements" that allow free exchange of information between individual citizens across borders.

It is an interesting arrangement. We have to be licensed. We can do about anything we want. We work as a self-organizing entity. We move and organize faster across broader areas than anything else could. We also get out of the way very quickly so they can do the real work. They, after all, are the ones who can actually send organized help in and have the resources and money. However, they love having information flowing asap so they can actually get organized. We also have "Boots on the Ground" feeding information in, or helping set up a temporary radio station at a hospital, Red Cross Clinic etc that dos not have a working one. whatever.

Those who are expecting to be aaffected by the hurricane are requested to check this information out for their local areas and be prepared.

All those who have alternative help information may kindly post it here.