I’m reading the latest stuff on NOAA’s Tropical Cyclone 2 Updates (06182017), and I’m remembering some things.

If only there was someone who had dealt with emergency communications and worked toward developing a system where alerts could be sent to people’s mobile phones.

If only he had a military medical background with an idea of how things really work – and don’t – on the ground.

If only CARICOM had put such a system in place; if only when this alleged person was approached by Roosevelt King they hadn’t said they needed to spend a few hundred thousand US dollars to get it done.

If only he hadn’t told them that they could have developed the system from scratch starting at about $10K U.S., with development costs, circa 2006. That was too cheap and would employ local developers. That would be no good.

If only there was someone who had found himself working with such systems at ECN, and worked to troubleshoot existing systems, design new ones and see what goes wrong – plus document it all. If only those systems included NOAA! If only when he returned to Trinidad and Tobago, he tried connecting with people in Digicel and TSTT and met silence.

If only such a person existed. If he did, he’d probably be a farmer by now after having tried to chase a vision no one else wanted. Hypothetically, 12 years is a long time by human standards. 1/6th or 1/7th of a decent lifespan, really.

Ahh, well. If only we had that experience. Too bad.