Stay Connected Even When Phones Go Down! Tainan Youth Build Backup Communication Network in Houbi to Strengthen Community Disaster Resilience

The Tainan City Government is promoting the '2026 Tainan Youth Public Engagement Action Program,' encouraging young people to address everyday issues through innovative actions that respond to public needs. This year's selected team, 'Gongwan Network,' began installing backup communication equipment in Houbi District today (the 7th), establishing a community-based communication network independent of 4G or Wi-Fi. In the event of typhoons, power outages, or damaged base stations causing mobile phone signal loss, residents will still be able to transmit disaster reports and emergency requests, strengthening the disaster notification mechanism between communities, neighborhood leaders, and district offices.

Reporting Disasters Without Relying on 4G or Wi-Fi: 12 Nodes Create a Secondary Communication Link During Emergencies

Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che stated that enhancing local disaster resilience has become a critical issue in the face of extreme weather events such as storms and heavy rainfall. Young people are leveraging technology to meet local needs and proposing innovative solutions, demonstrating strong civic engagement while also providing valuable supplementation to existing disaster prevention systems. The city government welcomes youth involvement in communities, conducting on-site testing and adjustments to ensure innovations better align with residents’ actual needs.

According to the Research, Development, and Evaluation Commission, Typhoon Danas severely impacted Tainan last year, with serious damage in the Houbi District. As part of the '2025 Youth Public Engagement Action Program,' local youth organized an exchange event titled 'Restoring Life After the Storm,' inviting residents and over ten city departments to jointly discuss post-disaster recovery strategies—laying the foundation for this year’s backup communication project.

Building upon last year’s discussions, this year’s 'Gongwan Network' team addressed the characteristics of Houbi’s rural settlements—dispersed populations and a relatively high proportion of elderly residents—by proposing the concept of a 'community-level secondary communication link.' The goal is to maintain basic information transmission during the initial stages of a disaster when mobile communications may be disrupted, reducing the risk of information isolation.

With assistance from the Houbi District Office, Taiwan Puyu Cultural and Educational Development Association, local neighborhood chiefs, and disaster prevention volunteers, the team has completed the deployment of 12 communication nodes. Professor Li Xin-ping, Deputy Director of the Disaster Prevention Research Center at National Cheng Kung University, serves as the advisory mentor, jointly advancing community-based disaster resilience innovation.

The team plans to successively host disaster resilience workshops and recruit online youth volunteers by the end of August, inviting residents to experience the backup communication system firsthand, familiarize themselves with device operations, and gradually build autonomous maintenance and operation capabilities. In the future, they aim to promote this low-cost backup communication model to more communities.

Zheng Fu-fang, leader of the 'Gongwan Network,' explained that the LoRa Meshtastic technology adopted by the team functions like a 'text-based walkie-talkie that doesn’t require cellular networks.' Devices can relay signals to one another, achieving transmission distances exceeding 5 kilometers in open environments. This system is not intended to replace existing disaster response communications but rather to assist communities in transmitting real-time disaster updates when base stations fail, enabling neighborhood leaders, district offices, and relevant agencies to obtain frontline information promptly.

The Research, Development, and Evaluation Commission noted that five teams were selected this year through the Youth Public Engagement Action Program. Through cross-departmental collaboration and mentorship, the program supports youth in transforming local observations into tangible actions. Moving forward, the city government will continue integrating resources to create platforms for youth participation in public affairs, injecting further innovative energy into urban governance.