Communicating During an Emergency

Communicating During an Emergency:
Alternatives to Phone Calls

I am based on the Florida Gulf Coast. For the past week or so, we have been watching Hurricane Dorian. As the storm gets closer to Florida, the misinformation starts circulating.  And there is a whole lot of misinformation circulating when it comes to communicating with others during an Emergency Event.

Facebook and Twitter are riddled with posts about which app to download so you can still communicate when you have no service.  Cell phones are great, but they are not magic. NO APP will work when you have no service whatsoever. But there are many apps that will function perfectly fine when cell service is down and internet service is up.  You need to have some strategy in mind that does not rely on voice communications and/or working cellular service.  You do need to plan for how you will contact folks when cell lines are overloaded.  In this article, we'll look at what you need to do to prep for this type of situation.

Why Can't I Depend on Cell Service During an Emergency?

Unfortunately, our cell towers are overloaded in many places. Different towers have different carriers, and often, your carrier may not have service on a particular tower. Additionally, different towers have different capacities. During emergencies, certain frequencies may be set aside for Emergency Officials and Governmental communications only, leaving little capacity to serve other callers.  Voice calls are more taxing on the infrastructure than data transmissions, so calls may not go through. Additionally, cell service transmitters are often the first thing to fail in any type of storm.  For this reason, it is better for everyone if you limit voice communications and switch to data communications, whenever possible.  If you must use voice communications, it is preferable to use those that rely on wifi or VOIP, rather than those that utilize the over-taxed cell system.

Weathering a Storm Part 4: Food and Provisions

Putting Together a Storm Emergency Kit Part 4:
Food, Water, Beverages, 

Provisions, and Miscellaneous Supplies

Feeding Yourself During a Storm Event:
Winners and Losers

This is our final post in a series on preparing for a Storm Emergency and lessons learned from Hurricane Irma.  Part 1 focused on emergency lighting, Part 2 discussed communications, and Part 3 looked at Electronics, Power Accessories, and Entertainment, and talked about how to alleviate boredom during an extended power outage.  Today, we're going to step away from technology for a little bit and look at food, provisions, and miscellaneous items you need to keep in an Emergency Kit.

Food Considerations

When a storm hits, you may need to shelter in place, or you may need to evacuate.  Whether you evacuate to a public shelter or to a motel, you will need to bring your own food. In addition, you cannot count on ANYTHING being open during the storm or its immediate aftermath.  Restaurants, grocers, and convenience stores will close in advance of a Storm Event, and many will not reopen for days.  Thus, your Emergency Kit needs to include at least a week's worth of supplies per person.  And of course all of these supplies need to be shelf-stable, lasting a long time without refrigeration.

If you shelter in place, you may be able to use camp stoves and the like to heat up food. However, if you need to evacuate, you will not be able to use any type of grills or camp stoves. You will not be able to use any type of personal generator either. Thus, ideally your emergency food should consist of items that can be eaten without heating.

Storm Emergencies are very stressful. And for most people, stressful times call for comfort food.  Many people pack their emergency kits full of the foods they SHOULD be eating, rather than the foods they ENJOY eating. This is a big mistake.  Be sure to pack your Emergency Kit with foods you actually enjoy.  Do not overlook snacks.  And also include some of your own, personal, "stress-eating favorites." For many, that means including some form of chocolate in your Emergency Kit.  For others, it may mean nuts or chips.  Whatever your own non-perishable "vice food" is, be sure to include plenty of that in your kit as well.

You WILL need to eat well during an emergency situation. Therefore, try to include protein-packed foods and things that will give you energy. Avoid high sodium foods and foods that tend to dehydrate you.  If your system is at all sensitive, try to avoid foods that will cause flare-ups. Yes, you want some comfort foods, but this is NOT the time to go on a junk food only type binge.  Also make sure you have some high fiber foods in your kit.

Commercially canned foods are better than home canned foods and/or bottled foods.  Canned foods are much less prone to contamination by flood waters than food in bottles or jars.  Food in "pouches" is another good alternative, as it has a long shelf life and is less prone to contamination by floods.