This week, as Israeli forces escalated strikes against Iran, something unprecedented happened in Tehran. Israeli officials issued evacuation warnings to millions of civilians in Iran's capital—a city of 10 million people within Tehran province's 19 million residents. The warnings came with a chilling reality: Iranian authorities provided virtually no evacuation guidance to help families coordinate their escape.
"They don't give us any practical tips. No information as to which locations we should avoid and which ones are safe to go," a 48-year-old Tehran resident told NPR, speaking anonymously for fear of government reprisal. "They don't talk about it at all."
When Governments Fail, Families Suffer
The scenes unfolding in Tehran reveal a devastating truth about mass evacuations: even when authorities issue urgent warnings, they rarely provide the coordination families desperately need. According to reports from international media, Iranian officials focused on "applauding and celebrating shooting missiles at Israel" rather than helping their own citizens navigate the crisis.
Meanwhile, families found themselves facing impossible questions with no answers:
- Where should we meet if we get separated during evacuation?
- How do we contact each other if phone networks fail?
- Which routes out of the city will still be passable?
- Where can we go that's far enough from potential targets?
The communication challenges became even more severe as Iranian authorities restricted internet access and cut phone services sporadically throughout the conflict. Amnesty International reported that "access to the Internet is essential to protect human rights, especially in times of armed conflict where communications blackouts would prevent people from finding safe routes, accessing life-saving resources, and staying informed."
The Wealthy Had Backup Plans—Most Families Didn't
Perhaps most tellingly, reports indicated that some wealthy Iranian activists maintained contact with the outside world through Starlink satellite terminals, providing independent internet access when government systems failed. This created a stark divide: those with resources had backup communication plans, while regular families were left in the dark.
One Iranian resident described the situation to CNN: "This is war. No one really understands what that means." After eight days of conflict, "Iranians' contact with the outside world is difficult, hampered by sporadic internet and phone coverage."
International Evacuations Show What's Possible
The contrast with foreign nationals was striking. China successfully evacuated more than 1,600 Chinese workers, students, and tourists from Iran through coordinated embassy efforts. Japan evacuated 90 nationals to Azerbaijan and Jordan, with plans for additional bus evacuations. These evacuations succeeded because they had predetermined coordination plans, established meetup points, and multiple communication channels.
Foreign workers and their families had what Iranian civilians lacked: a comprehensive disaster communication strategy created before the crisis hit.
Why Tehran's Crisis Matters to American Families
While most American families will never face missile strikes, the fundamental communication challenges that paralyzed Tehran families happen during every major disaster:
Network Failures: During Hurricane Katrina, cellular towers failed across the Gulf Coast. After 9/11, phone networks in New York were overwhelmed. California wildfire evacuations regularly see communication systems go down.
Evacuation Chaos: Mass evacuations during hurricanes, wildfires, and other disasters routinely separate families who had no predetermined meetup strategy.
Government Information Gaps: Local authorities often issue evacuation orders without providing specific guidance on routes, timing, or coordination—leaving families to figure it out alone.
Resource Disparities: Just as wealthy Iranians had Starlink access, American families with resources often have better backup communication options while others are left relying on failing systems.
The Rubberband Solution Tehran Families Needed
The crisis in Tehran perfectly illustrates why families need comprehensive disaster communication plans that work when everything else fails. A proper family communication strategy would have given Tehran residents:
Predetermined Meetup Locations: Instead of wandering chaos, families would know exactly where to reunite if separated during evacuation—locations mapped out when thinking was clear and stress was low.
Multiple Communication Channels: Rather than relying solely on internet and cellular networks that authorities could cut, families would have backup methods including shortwave radio frequencies, physical message drops, and coded communication strategies.
Evacuation Route Planning: Families would have identified multiple exit routes from the city, with backup options when primary roads became blocked or dangerous.
Out-of-Region Coordination: The plan would include meetup strategies extending beyond the immediate danger zone, with contacts and resources in safer areas.
Offline Implementation: Most critically, the entire communication strategy would exist in printed, portable format—accessible even when all digital systems fail.
Learning from Tehran's Communication Breakdown
The tragedy unfolding in Tehran isn't just about Middle Eastern conflict—it's a stark reminder that when disaster strikes, families who haven't planned ahead become statistics in someone else's emergency.
Iranian families faced the nightmare scenario every family fears: urgent need to evacuate with no way to coordinate, no predetermined plan, and authorities providing no help. In that moment of maximum stress and danger, they were forced to make life-or-death decisions about where to go and how to find each other—exactly when clear thinking becomes impossible.
American families watching this crisis should ask themselves: if we faced similar evacuation orders tomorrow, would we know where to meet? Do we have backup communication methods? Have we identified multiple escape routes from our area?
The families in Tehran didn't expect to need these plans either. Until they did.
Taking Action Before Crisis Hits
The scenes from Tehran demonstrate that disaster communication planning isn't paranoid preparation—it's responsible family protection. When authorities issue evacuation warnings with no coordination guidance, families with predetermined plans survive and reunite. Families without plans become separated, lost, and vulnerable.
Creating a comprehensive family disaster communication plan might seem overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be. Rubberband guides your family through building a complete emergency communication strategy in simple, manageable steps. From mapping meetup locations to establishing backup communication methods, you can create a plan that ensures your family can find each other even when normal systems fail. The families in Tehran needed this kind of preparation—and with global tensions rising, American families need it too. Start building your family's communication plan today at https://rubberband.us.