During large-scale blackouts, mobile communication infrastructures often fail, limiting coordination and information exchange. This problem is particularly critical in rural areas with a dispersed population, where communication between citizens, authorities, and emergency services becomes difficult. This paper presents MERLIN, a LoRa-based communication infrastructure designed to enable bidirectional crisis communication during blackouts. Drawing on crisis informatics, the system's potential to support collaboration among stakeholders is examined using a classification matrix for social software, focusing on coordination among citizens, public authorities, and emergency services during blackouts. Specifically, the system is designed to allow authorities to receive emergency alerts, coordinate response activities, support emergency planning, and disseminate critical information to citizens. The paper presents an example of bidirectional crisis communication operating over a purpose-built LoRa-based wireless mesh network. It discusses its implications for crisis informatics research and illustrates how decentralized communication infrastructures can support coordination and information exchange during blackouts.     «

During large-scale blackouts, mobile communication infrastructures often fail, limiting coordination and information exchange. This problem is particularly critical in rural areas with a dispersed population, where communication between citizens, authorities, and emergency services becomes difficult. This paper presents MERLIN, a LoRa-based communication infrastructure designed to enable bidirectional crisis communication during blackouts. Drawing on crisis informatics, the system's potential to...     »