Missions

After a powerful cyclone made landfall in Mozambique in the night between 14 and 15 March, TSF teams deployed to the coastal area of Beira to provide communication means to the affected population.

On 11 March 2011 an earthquake measuring 9 on the Richter scale triggered a tsunami in North-East Japan, with 10-metre waves ravaging the coastal areas and causing the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, with the explosion of the reactor of the Fukushima power station. The destruction of infrastructure, the shortage of fuel, and many power cuts to the capital make the situation extremely complex. TSF deployed from its base in Bangkok to provide its emergency communications facilities. The mission drew to a close due to the high risk of the nuclear alert.

The April 2009 earthquake in Italy left 260 people dead and more than a thousand wounded. The onsite TSF team provided emergency satellite lines to the civil protection coordination centres.

The flood of the Zambezi River exceeded the alert level by 3m at the beginning of 2008. More than 100,000 Mozambicans were displaced in temporary accommodation camps. At the request of UNCEF, TSF supported the ETC in the coordination centres of Mopeia, Caia and Mutarara. The team then traveled through the temporary camps to offer free calls to those affected. More than 1000 families were able to give news to their loved ones.

TSF deployed a team of emergency telecommunications specialists in the Darfur region of Sudan to conduct an assessment mission for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The mission was to assess the telecommunications infrastructure in Nyala, El Genina and El Fasher to determine the needs of the United Nations and NGOs in these cities located to the west of the country near the Chadian border. This conflict-ridden region, which, according to international experts, had since 2003 killed more than 200,000 people and forced more than two million to flee fighting and take refuge in makeshift camps on both sides of the border in Chad and Sudan.

Weeks of heavy rains triggered flash floods along the Zambezi river and its tributaries, washing away homes, bridges, livestock and crops in four central provinces (Tete, Manica, Sofala and Zambezia). In coordination with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and Unicef, Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) responded to the emergency by deploying a first communication centre at the office of the National Disaster Management Institute of Mozambique (INGC) in Caia, only 24 hours after the activation of the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) on February 15th.

Torrential rains fell on the Aosta Valley, the TSF team, equipped with 16 satellite telephone lines, arrived at the Emergency Command Centre 14 hours after the official announcement of the request for international assistance. First NGO present in the field, the team assesses the damages.