By Chris Guld, Geeks on Tour
If you find yourself in the path of a hurricane, the best safety equipment you can have is your RV. Get out of the area!
Hurricane Apps
Smartphones can be invaluable in a hurricane. First of all, of course, is a hurricane tracker. We recommend Max Tracker because it comes from a local TV station in Miami. The “forecast cone” is what we rely on when deciding where to run. We also check the radar using The Weather Channel. If you don’t know how to take screenshots from your phone, like mine below, here’s a Quick Tip on Taking Screenshots. They’re great for the blog post later!
Charging your Phone
Google Maps
And then there’s Google Maps! We used two special features of Maps a lot during the last hurricane:
During a hurricane, the app that I found invaluable for staying in touch with friends and family, letting them know how we were, and finding out how they were – is Facebook. With just one post on Facebook, we can let everyone know where we are and how we’re doing. Since most of our real friends are on Facebook as well, we know the same about them. During natural disasters, Facebook turns on a feature called SafetyCheck, which gives us all a place to check in and report our status. But more than that, I relied on Facebook for eyewitness reports. Information from Apps is great, but it’s information like this from people we know that really tells us what’s going on:
If you are affected by the recent hurricane, first of all, stay safe. Then, we’d love to hear about any ways that your smartphone helps you. Leave a comment below.
