Having been involved with WinLink since the days of PMBO's and the improvement from Pactor 2 to 3, I have always believed and supported the concept of HF email for emergencies.
Having one of the first agency provided early NEXUS gateways with a packet input, helped me to gain the experience needed. This system was at a training facility on batteries and had a "high speed" 9600 baud telephone modem for internet. Funding came from the county RACES program at a cost then of $3000.00.