Communications

Your household may not be together when a disaster strikes. Decide now how you will contact one another, how you will reconnect if separated, and where you will meet.⁠^[1]

Three steps:⁠^[2]

1. Collect. Write down phone numbers and email addresses for everyone in the household, plus doctors, schools, and workplaces. Make a paper copy: phones get lost and batteries die.
2. Share. Everyone carries a copy in a wallet, purse, or backpack. Post one at home, such as on the refrigerator.
3. Practice. Review the plan at regular household meetings. Have everyone practice sending a text.

Pick an out-of-area contact. Choose one person outside your community or state who everyone checks in with. In a disaster, a long-distance call can be easier to make than a call across town, because local lines can be jammed.⁠^[2]⁠^[3]

Pick meeting places:⁠^[2]

• Indoors: where everyone goes for a tornado or high-wind storm.
• In the neighborhood: a spot outside, such as a mailbox or a neighbor's house, if you have to leave the home.
• Outside the neighborhood: a library, community center, or house of worship if you can't get home.
• Out of town: the home of a relative or friend, if your area is told to evacuate.

In every phone: save an emergency contact under "ICE" (In Case of Emergency), and make a group list of the people you would need to reach.⁠^[2]

Know the emergency plans at your children's schools, childcare, and workplaces, and who could pick children up.⁠^[2] Ready.gov has a free fillable plan and a wallet card.⁠^[1]

Text first. A text message may get through when a phone call will not. A text uses far less bandwidth than a call, and it can save and send automatically when the network has room.⁠^[2]

If you must call:⁠^[3]

• Keep calls short and limit non-emergency calls, so others can get through.
• If a call fails, try something else: text, email, or a landline.
• Wait 10 seconds before redialing. Redialing too fast adds to the jam.

After a disaster, phone systems are often down or busy. Save calls for emergencies and use text or social media to tell people you're OK.⁠^[5]

Keep phones charged. When a storm is forecast, charge your phone and have backup charging devices ready.⁠^[5] Keep a phone charger and a backup battery in your kit.⁠^[11] A car-charger adapter lets you charge from a vehicle.⁠^[3]

Landlines: find out whether your home phone works in a power outage and how long its battery backup lasts.⁠^[12] Cordless phones usually do not work without power.⁠^[3]

To make a battery last, dim the screen and close apps you don't need. General guidance. For power stations and solar charging, see the Power guide.

Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) come to your phone automatically. They are free and need no sign-up. Officials send them for severe weather, evacuations, missing children, and national emergencies, and you get them even when visiting another area.⁠^[15] They are not affected by network congestion. You will not get them if your phone is off, in airplane mode, or opted out in its notification settings.⁠^[16] Check that alerts are turned on.

NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts official National Weather Service warnings around the clock, plus warnings for other hazards, such as chemical releases. It covers all 50 states with more than 1,000 transmitters, and needs a special receiver.⁠^[17] Get one with a tone alert, battery or hand-crank.⁠^[11]

Sign up for local alerts, too. WEA may not tell you about a local flood or a critical road closure. Local opt-in alerts do.⁠^[18] Sign up with your local emergency management agency and the National Weather Service.⁠^[19] Have several ways to receive alerts, including radio and TV.⁠^[5]

If your county's system isn't listed below, search for "[your county] emergency alerts." General guidance.

When cell towers and the internet are down, two-way radios still work between radios. Practice with yours before you need it. General guidance.

GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) is for short-distance, two-way voice using handheld radios, car radios, and repeaters. It requires an FCC license. Licenses go to individuals, and cover the licensee's immediate family members. The license lasts 10 years.⁠^[27] A new license application costs $35.⁠^[28]

Amateur (ham) radio needs an FCC license, earned by passing an exam given by volunteer examiners. Most people start with the Technician license.⁠^[29] The Technician exam is 35 questions. It gives access to all amateur frequencies above 30 MHz, mostly for local contacts and often across North America. The General license opens worldwide communication.⁠^[30] Licenses last 10 years, and exams are offered in person and online.⁠^[30] A new license application costs $35.⁠^[28]

Plan the details: write down which channel or frequency your household uses, and a time to check in. General guidance.

This is general information, not legal advice. The FCC's rules decide what you may transmit.

Phones die and networks fail. Keep the important things on paper and offline.

• A paper contact list in every wallet and at home.⁠^[2]
• Local paper maps in your kit.⁠^[11] Mark your evacuation routes and meeting places.
• Offline maps on your phone: most map apps let you download an area to use without a signal. Download your home area and your evacuation routes now. General guidance.
• Documents: keep copies in a waterproof container and in a secure, password-protected digital space.⁠^[31]⁠^[5]
• Shelters: the FEMA app lists open shelters during a disaster.⁠^[19]
• This site: print the pages you rely on. General guidance.