When there is a disaster such as an earthquake, fire or hurricane, many people rely on their cell phones, smartphones or tablets for news, contacting family and to get help. Here are some smartphone, cell phone and tablet tips during a disaster such as Hurricane Irene.
- Keep Your Phone Dry - First off, please remember that electronics should not be exposed to water. It is very easy to drop a cell phone or smartphone while using it in rain and wind. If you go outside, put your cell phone or tablet in something that is water-tight.
- Text First - When someone calls you on your cell phone number the cell towers with in 20 miles of where you were last look for you. When an emergency happens the cell towers get overloaded from people making cell phone calls and receiving cell phone calls. The reason why the cell towers look for the customer's phone and not vice a versa is is that if a cell phone had to continually send out signals to find cell towers, it would drain battery life. The best form of communication during an emergency is texting because it uses very little data and bandwidth.
- Extra Battery/ Alternative Charger - Another problem that occurs during disaster is that the power may go out and you will not be able to charge your cell phone. That's why it's important to have a car charger and possibly a second battery if you do not have a landline and only use a cell phone for communication.
- Backup Contacts to Cloud or Portable Drive - Most carriers offer contact backup services. You could lose your phone with your contacts during a storm. Because you may not be able to carry a lot with you if you are evacuated, you can store your important documents on a USB drive or microSD card.
- Program all of your emergency contact numbers and email addresses into your mobile phone. Numbers should include the police department, fire station and hospital, as well as your family members.
- Check your phone's signal strength in a non-emergency situation to know where the signal is strong and where it's not.
- Set Up Web Accessible Voice Mail if the power goes out, it will turn off your telephone answering machine and you probably will not be able to charge your phone. A web-based or carrier-based voicemail system will allow you to retrieve messages while you are away from home, If you are evacuated and also from the web in an emergency center.
- Make Calls Indoors - Okay we know lightning doesn't usually strike during a hurricane, however, it there is lightening there is some evidence that cell phone antenna could act as a lightening rod.
- Download Emergency /Weather Apps, Bookmark Info - Apps such as FEMA's emergency app and weather notifications can help. We also suggest you bookmark in your browser resources for your area. Some suggested sites to bookmark are the National Weather Service (http://mobile.weather.gov), Center for Disease Control (http://m.cdc.gov), and FEMA (http://m.fema.gov).
Emergency Apps Recommended by Sprint
- In Case of Emergency (ICE) - Available in the Android Market and BlackBerry App World, ICE provides EMTs with critical personal and medical data including name, important notification telephone numbers, blood type, allergies, physician's name and number, and existing medical conditions.
- First Aid - This app offers instructions to offer first aid. It has illustrations, videos and short texts that show how to take the necessary action in the correct order. Available in Android Market.
- Droid 911 - Android users can use Droid 911 to find the nearest police stations, fire stations, hospitals, tow trucks, auto repair shops, gas stations and ATM machines, based on your location. Available in Android Market.
If a natural disaster escalates to a point where you have to be evacuated for any reason, contact your carrier. They often offer free voicemail and landline call forwarding during a disaster, as they did with the fires in Southern California.
You may want to contact your carrier to find out if they have evacuation centers or mobile stores where you can charge your cell phone or call family.