emergency response

By now you should know that T&T and other southerly isles in the Caribean chain are under a Tropical Storm Warning due to Tropical Storm Tomas.  Though not expected to hit T&T directly, Tomas is as massive in size as Hurricane Gilbert was a few years back.  So the Met Office expects about 75-150 mm of rainfall to be dumped within the next 24 hours - that's 50-75% of the average rainfall for the whole month of October within one day - with the bad weather reaching landfall around midnight.

Imagine being trapped under some rubble with only a mobile phone for company. You could be hurt, bleeding, hungry, dehydrated or any combination of the above. If the mobile infrastructure is even partially intact, calling people on the phone would be limited by the likely overload of the mobile system. But SMS messages get queued. They also drain less battery life which, if you're stuck, could be very important in saving your life or the life of someone you love.