Dear Smartphone: Emergency + Smartphones

DEAR READERS: WE INTERRUPT OUR USUAL FORMAT TO BRING YOU THIS EMERGENCY MESSAGE!

Last week the Federal Government did an Emergency Test sending a push notification to the nation’s cell phones. The message was the butt of jokes, but at the core is a recognition of how our communication systems have changed.

If you can’t remember when the last major earthquake struck or a devastating hurricane made landfall keep in mind one thing. The majority of households have now disconnected their landline phone and depend exclusively on smartphones.

It’s time to prep your twenty-first century disaster kit.

First, there are several apps that you can install on your phone that will continue to work if the cellular system goes down. Two of the most frequently mentioned apps are FIRECHAT and ZELLO

Second, as you get prepare, think about storing an auxilary power source or two, like an extra smartphone battery and a solar charger. Redundancy can mean resilience  during a disaster, so it’s a good idea to do this for each family member’s phone.