Or this: Companies seeking to determine whether their employees were safe had to wait days to get the information they needed.

Or this: Although with a few days satellite photos could be accessed to see whether a certain block or house was damaged, rescue workers still had to make house-to-house searches to find survivors. There was simply no other way to reach people in need than by traveling to where they were waiting.

As Diane Mermigas wrote in The Hollywood Reporter, “At a time where we take for granted cellular telephone conversations with others half a world away, live television and radio news coverage, instant messaging and Internet postings, it is difficult to fathom anyone, anywhere in the U.S. not being connected.”

But even everyday communication is not ubiquitous. Most companies have employees who do not have Internet access at work—or at home. Many Americans still don’t have cellphones. Some, on limited and fixed incomes, don’t even have long-distance phone service.

As Ms. Mermigas wrote, “The nightmare ordeal that unfolded in the devastated areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama was a grim reminder of the frailty of human beings and their advanced digital technology.”

Technology can be amazing, but communication is not guaranteed. We need to keep that in mind going forward.