INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — Verizon has high-tech equipment stored in an Independence, Missouri, cave that is helping first responders in severe weather, like recent hurricanes in Florida.
Matthew Brungardt, with the Verizon frontline crisis response team, says it's about first responders not being able to communicate in order to save that loved one.
"In the first several hours, it's chaos," Brungardt said. "It's destruction. There's a lot of things and a lot of communication that need to occur."
Verizon recently gave us a peek at how they restore those critical networks.
"The Verizon Frontline Crisis Response Team last year had over 1,700 responses," Brungardt said. "We loaned over 7,100 solutions to almost 900 different agencies."
Drones, trucks, satellite dishes and a robot dog each serve a niche purpose and some of them have been sent out to help in the aftermath of two major hurricanes.
"It's critical that they're able to use their phones," said Tony Larose, Verizon's associate director of network. "You know who you want to get ahold of, make sure somebody's safe or make sure you know they're safe."
A lot of it goes to creating special networks for first responders, but it doesn't only help them.
Larose knows how important that "I'm okay" phone call is for everyone else.
"I believe in what we do, and believe in getting this out there to the customer so that they can have the call that they need in an emergency situation," he said.
