Satellite phone/ Cingular Wirless Priority Services?

Question

I live in new orleans, and the last time i evacuated, i and the rest of the 504(new Orleans area code) and surrounding new orleans area code cell phones no longer worked after the storm.
I have a cingular phone, and yes, ALL phones did not work.
The reason is because your phone goes through the towers in the area you are at, then goes home, New orleans, then routes to where the person you are calling is.
The towers in new orleans were not only destroyed, but OVERFLOWED with calls.

So next hurricane season, which is now, i want to be able to make calls.
So i am going over the satellite phone, or Cingular wireless priority services.
I havent found anything reasonable prices for a satellite phone, and Cingular Wireless priority you need to be in the federal government, but we can see about that ;p. That costs 10$ for activation, and a couple extra cents a call.
So does anyone know of any other options, or way arounds?

Answer 1

There are 2 other ways.
1) buy radio equipment for the person you want to stay in contact with, and yourself.
2) get a palm PC with WiFi, and wirelessly connect it to a PC at home that uses a sattelite based ISP. This will allow you to connect to the internet wirelessly via a proxy from a sattelite, and you will therefore be able to establish VOIP to any phone in the world for free as much as you want as often as you want and talk for as long as you want without using New Orleans WiFi internet service towers. When you leave new orleans, connect your palm PC to the WiFi towers in that area, using the same sattelite based ISP (not based in New Orleans), and it will therefore not need to be routed through New Orleans to connect to Whoever.

Answer 2

2