6500

That's the number of cell towers that lost power or were damaged during Hurricane Irene.  44% of cell towers in Vermont alone were knocked out.

210,000 wired customers were out of service as of Monday afternoon, and 2 TV stations and 10 radio stations were also knocked off the air.

Meanwhile, ham radio's still chugging along for many in the northeast. Thoughts of amateur radio's decline and "ancient" form of communications continues to shine through despite the conveniences of modern technology, which isn't convenient when a natural disaster such as Hurricane Irene takes out the resources needed to communicate.