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A person looks at an iPhone 5 during the opening of a new Apple store on November 15, 2012 in Saint-Herblain, western France.

When disaster strikes — earthquakes, hurricanes, wild fires — we reach for our phones. But as many discovered, most recently in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, cell phones are often quick to fail.

That's a problem, especially considering one-third of Americans have no landline.

A new report out from ProPublica finds that cell phone companies have been resisting rules which would make service more reliable in emergency situations. 

ProPublica's Cora Currier joins the show to talk about her report.