Hey there, I am with the (Google "christchurch neighbours" due spam filter) effort to create a network of neighbourhood forums across Christhchurch (we use GPL GroupServer technology due to fundamental e-mail integration).
I noticed this Drupal announcement:
Google "Drupal VOIP"
And thought perhaps there might be a way to use it to provide telephone text to speech access via the web feeds our forums produce.
Example:
Had to remove due to spam filter.
There would of course be other applications for earth quake related very very local communication.
If you want to give it a go, join our online working group - spam filter problem again - and let us know.