We address the problem of designing a communication system for deploying under disaster situations where the pre-disaster communication infrastructure has been uprooted. The disaster communication system is required to aid in rescue effort by providing text, voice, and video communication links between the field worker and the operation center. It is also required to provide some communication services to the affected citizens so that the overwhelming demands made on the communication infrastructure during the times of disaster are mitigated to some extent. The other highlights of the design are its low-cost nature by exploiting the economies of scale and the fact that basic mobile phones with text-only features are widely available in developing countries. © 2012 IEEE.