In my case, living in Charlotte County, FL, and hit by both (not sure
about Ivan yet), all that worked for several days after each hurricane
was my DC. That was the only way I could keep up with my kids in school
(Gainesville and Tallahassee). No problems with it.

When the phone calls worked, only those sent outside my local area
worked. I wasn't able to make any local Nextel area calls.