Digital preparedness on my cell phone
As I look at my iPhone 11, I see what kind of resources I have to keep me up-to-date for emergency response. To begin with, I have my children, my husband and a good friend in Portland listed as emergency contacts on my phone. It’s especially important to have at least one emergency contact be someone out-of-state and to have that person be aware of that role. It’s likely that text messaging will be the best way to communicate, at least for awhile, if the power is knocked out city-wide or state-wide.
In the event of an earthquake or an extended power outage, having one or more power banks is important, as phone batteries drain quickly in the cold. Turning off unnecessary functions like GPS, Bluetooth and WiFi will significantly extend battery life. These are the apps that I have installed on my iPhone: American Red Cross Emergency, American Red Cross First Aid, 211info, FEMA (you can customize your alerts), and the NOAA Weather.
And, finally, when I hear of any weather event that might affect the power in our area, I immediately charge up my phone to 100%.
