During an emergency, many people are trying to use their phones at the same time. As experienced with the earthquake tremor on Tuesday, cell phone lines were busy and many people unreachable. The increase in call volume creates a network congestion, where many calls can’t be connected. Just a few short days later, our worries have turned to Hurricane Irene.
The Weather Channel ran a story about what to do to keep your cell phone running during a storm that may last an extended period of time. In the report, a Verizon spokesman by the name of Gordon Cook says that even if your home has no power, you can still use your Verizon phone because their cell towers have either a permanent back-up generator or an 8 hour battery that goes live when the power dies. Verizon and other phone companies have cell towers on standby for emergencies like this and feel prepared for Hurricane Irene. With the hurricane approaching, it is important to learn how to save your phone battery so you are prepared in an emergency. Read the cell phone battery tips provided below by The Weather Channel:
Save Your Phone Battery
– Make text messages because they use less battery then a phone call.
– Only turn on your cell phone when you need it
– Lower the brightness on your phone’s screen to limit battery usage.
– Don’t use touch screen function too often because it wastes the battery life.
Trying to limit your battery usage on your cell phone isn’t the only way to better communicate during a storm. There are other tips to help you communicate in an emergency:
Emergency Communication Plan
1. Be sure your family and loved ones have prepared a communication plan; putting emergency contacts and e-mail addresses into your cell phones.
2. In an emergency situation with severe weather, chances of losing electricity is likely. Make sure your cell phone has a fully charged battery before you lose power.
3. Text message instead of making calls. During an emergency situaton, the text messages may be delayed but will go through quicker than a phone call because it requires fewer network resources.
4. Keep non-emergency calls to a minimum, and limit your calls to the most important ones. The more phone calls you make, the more you are congesting the network for emergency phone calls.
Keep these communication tips in mind for Hurricane Irene and get your Hurricane Irene survival kit prepared. And most important, stay safe and dry.
