Although quantifiable improvements have been made in Oklahoma with regard to how emergency managers use critical weather data, key problems remain in disseminating perishable weather information. Most rural and tribal emergency management agencies have no better than a slow-speed modem with which to receive data targeted to populations at risk. In nearly every case, these agencies are at the mercy of a telecommunications infrastructure that might not remain operational during adverse weather conditions. These threats range from intense cloud-to-groud lightning in the summer to ice storms in the winter.

The telecommunications infrastructure in rural Oklahoma is so inadequate that Oklahoma was ranked as one of 12 states with the poorest telecommunications infrastructures in the United States. Therefore, OK-SAFE, a wireless, customizable, weather warning, data and decision support system, is under development. OK-SAFE is designed for use by emergency managers, general aviation interests, and utility service providers in rural Oklahoma during times of hazardous weather. OK-SAFE will target field technologies, meteorological data types, decision-support strategies, and dissemination methods to meet first responder requirements more effectively, rapidly, and inexpensively. Based upon the foundation of its internationally recognized successes in developing innovative weather-related applications, the Oklahoma Climatological Survey will utilize a broadband wireless infrastructure as the backbone for OK-SAFE. This project will undoubtedly move Oklahoma from its "Disconnected Dozen" status to a world leader in integrated data and decision support when the lives of its citizens are threatened by weather.