Tune in, Saratoga

A tornado touches down in Carbon County, grounded long enough to create significant damage, and in the process takes out cellular towers and internet infrastructure. It's an emergency, but now the cellphone in the hands of onlookers has become nothing more than a fancy camera.

How could the Office of Emergency Management function?

"If you don't have internet connectivity or cell towers, then you're kind of hosed," says Rick Parent, call sign W0ZAP. "That's where HAM radio comes in because it does run independent of those."

Parent and a handful of other amateur radio operators set up base on Ry...