How to Communicate During a Disaster

A state of emergency has been declared. The power has gone out. Phone lines are down. When a disaster strikes, it can make communication nearly impossible with friends and family. Instead of panicking, stay calm and remember these tips to help maintain communication during and after a natural disaster or emergency.

How to Communicate During a Disaster

Call: During an emergency situation, cell service and powerlines may become congested. Try not to make any calls unless absolutely necessary, which will help the phone lines remain open for first responder. And remember to only call 9-1-1 if there is immediate danger.

Text: AT&T recommends using text messages rather than voice calls to avoid network congestion. Text messages require far less bandwidth than a phone call. Therefore, text messages will still work since they operate on a parallel network.

Email: Try to send e-mails during emergency situations for communication. Email servers are located globally, and it is very unlikely they will all be dead at the same time. Internet and Wi-Fi service often times may still be up and running, even though cell phone service is not. This is because hard wired internet cables operate on different networks than cell phone service.

Social Media & Apps: Social media and apps like GroupMe, Twitter, or Facebook Messenger may allow you to get in touch to friends and family. Post status updates to let your loved ones be up-to-date on your current situation.

Save Your Phone’s Battery: If you don’t have access to charge or plug in your cellphone, try to extend the life of your cellphone battery by:

• • • Turn the screen brightness low
    • Turn off Wi-Fi
    • Close all apps that aren’t in use

ALE Solutions is the nation’s largest temporary housing provider for displaced policyholders due to fire, tornado, earthquake and hurricane. ALE has served over 350,000 families across the United States. For more information on our Catastrophe Solutions, please visit alesolutions.com