Fairview Township, located in Cass County, is better equipped to face down an emergency now that broadband service is available.

In July 2015, a supercell thunderstorm storm tore through the Brainerd Lakes area, causing millions of dollars of damage throughout the township and surrounding area.

Local law enforcement and emergency agencies communicated with each other via the statewide 800 MHz radio system. However, township officials were stymied by the lack of broadband when it came to sharing emergency information with residents, said Fairview Township Clerk Marla Yoho.

Our Internet access was so slow, it would often take 20 minutes to send an email. Posting an update to our website was almost impossible because we couldn't keep a connection to the server long enough to get the information posted," she said.

"We had to rely on the phone, taking calls and returning messages from 6:45 a.m. to 9:45 p.m., day after day, telling our frantic residents what to do with storm debris," Yoho said. "Our lack of reliable internet service, which was frustrating in normal day-to-day operations, was useless in this chaotic and stress-filled disaster."

"What we didn't have was broadband."

For the last year and a half, Fairview Township worked with Consolidated Telephone Cooperative (CTC) through the Border-to-Border Broadband grant program application process. CTC was awarded a $2 million grant in 2014, and all through the devastation and broken trees, CTC installation crews kept busy laying the infrastructure for Fairview Township's future.

Recently, Fairview Township moved into the 21st century. "Our broadband service was spliced in at town hall, and my computer jumped to life," Yoho said. "It was a dream come true."

Yoho understood the educational, governmental and economic need for broadband. Aside from emergency situations, second-home owners wanted to telecommute. Doctors had to be able to access X-rays and records as they dispensed medical advice while out of the office. Students lacked access to online research and college opportunities. She wasn't able to connect with Cass County officials in Walker, over 60 miles away.

"We just didn't realize how essential having reliable, high speed Internet would be in an emergency," she said.

"If we are faced with another emergency situation, we have the broadband in place to allow our fire department and township officials to interact with our residents on a timely basis."