Question

write a paragraph on alternative methods of communication during disasters.

Answer 1

How to communicate during a natural disaster?

Natural disaster preparation is very important and it has to be done in advance especially when it comes to communication. You need to prepare a communication system that will hold during disaster. For example, if you have Voice over IP (VoIP) that will definitely won’t work.

Make sure you know what type of landline phone service you are using. The modern ones need power to work and if there is a power loss it, obviously, won’t work. Most phone companies gave up their copper wiring and that’s why you have to make sure that your phone will work even in extreme cases. You can contact your phone company and ask them what type of landline you have.If you have a battery operated phone or one that has a back-up system that works with batteries your problem is solved. If you don’t have one, ask your service provider if it can deliver one. Also make sure that the batteries are charged and keep a spare in the house for emergency cases. Check them periodically to make sure everything is in order. You wouldn’t want to find yourself in the middle of a hurricane, with a battery operated phone, and no usable batteries.Make sure your cellular phone is charged and an extra battery wouldn’t hurt. In case wireless connection still works after a natural disaster, you may need to use the phone many times.There are situations when the power goes off but secure Wi-Fi is still available so you can get online and read news about the disaster or send e-mails and chat with loved ones. That’s why it is important to charge your tablet and your laptop too. In case of need, you can recharge your phone battery from your laptop using an USB cable.A simple radio device can save lives. So if you have one, regardless of its power source (battery, solar or hand-cranked) you must keep it close. News agencies and radio channels broadcast during a natural disaster in order to keep people informed. This way you know if the danger is over or if you should continue to stay in the shelter. Also, you can find out news about missing persons and other emergencies. One great product is the Ambient Weather WR111-B because it has NOAA specific channels. If you want to check out more models like this one, take a look at our reviews on best emergency radios.If there is a natural disaster and you still get network and Internet, don’t occupy the line with voice calls unless you have an emergency. During times like this people need to call emergency services and lines become extremely crowded. If you have service and Internet send a text or an e-mail to your loved ones and leave the voice line free.Try to conserve your battery phone by activating a profile that is less consuming. Dim your screen brightness and don’t stay online unless you absolutely need to. You never know for how long the power is going to be down and you don’t want to end up with a dead phone in the middle of an emergency. You can actually turn your phone off if you don’t manage to get service and there are no bars. Seeking for signal is a pretty consuming activity for your battery’s phone.Make sure you’re not crowding the network. If you want to redial a number wait at least 10 seconds. Constant redialing in short periods of time may increase network congestion and this way no one gets to make a call.Don’t try to call the emergency line if you don’t have an emergency. Usually, in case of disaster, authorities create special lines for non-emergencies where you can call and find out information.If you have a landline at home that supports call forwarding you should consider forwarding calls to your smartphone. This way, even if you have to evacuate you can take on calls from your home.In case the power is down and your smartphone just died you can charge it from your car if you have a car charger.

As you can see, a communication system during disaster is extremely important and if you are lucky enough to have a working phone don’t waste it’s battery on activities that are not important like games and watching videos.
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