After a major storm or disaster, Internet and phone connectivity are often knocked out -- leaving survivors and emergency-response teams with few ways to communicate. Now, the government is assembling a team of tech titans that will help train volunteers to set up temporary communications and other systems post-disaster.

Seven technology organizations -- Cisco, Google, Humanity Road, Information Technology Disaster Resource Center, Intel, Joint Communications Task Force and Microsoft -- have joined the program, called Tech Corps, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced this week. The tech blogEngadget first reported the news.

They announce all this this week, yet the program has been around since 2013...