Stewart Baker, assistant director for policy for the Department of Homeland Security, speaking at the PC Forum conference on lessons learned from Katrina: The best way to handle disasters is personal responsibility. People driving away from hurricanes is what saves lives. We're bad at letting them know they need to bug out. Yet nearly everybody has a cell phone. So why aren't we adding SMS emergency alerts to the cellular system? Even when voice cell towers fail, Baker says, text messages may still get through. Hey, Stewart, you work at DHS. Make it happen.

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