The State of Texas is susceptible to the effects of both natural and man-made disasters. At times, state and/or local government resources are inadequate to effectively respond to such incidents. This can be especially true in the area of communications when normal day-to-day systems are used in support of widespread emergencies or disasters. Because of system outages or overcrowding by emergency traffic, normal communications systems may become unusable or inadequate to meet emergency or disaster response needs.