Essential Technology to Have During Natural Disasters

3. The FEMA app lets you toggle between English and Spanish to access emergency safety tips for more than 20 types of disasters. It offers a customizable emergency kit checklist and an emergency family plan. You can also receive real-time alerts from the National Weather Service for up to five locations nationwide; share real-time notifications with loved ones via text, email and social media; and locate open emergency shelters and disaster recovery centers in your area where you can talk in person to a FEMA representative.

FEMA recommends enabling wireless emergency alerts on your mobile phone. The short emergency messages come from authorized federal, state, local, tribal and territorial public agencies and are broadcast from cell towers in a targeted area. FEMA suggests also following your local National Weather Service office on social media.

4. Google Maps’ offline feature lets you select an area, even an entire city, to download and view on your smartphone if cell service or Wi-Fi is offline.

5. Apple Maps offline feature, available only to iPhone users, can be used with iOS 17 and higher. iOS 18 was released in September 2024, so keeping your iPhone operating system up to date can help you prepare.

6. The Watch Duty app and website from a nonprofit of the same name offers a real-time wildfire map and alerts and includes information about prescribed burns so you’ll know what’s causing that smoke in the distance. The service, which more than 150 volunteers contribute to, covers 13 Western states in the continental U.S. plus Hawaii.

Consider satellite phone features

A communications device that relies totally on satellite service rather than land-based cellphone towers, which can be damaged during disasters, is an expensive investment. Satellite phones start at about $600 and run into the thousands.

Two-way satellite text messengers and mobile hotspots start at $300 but realize that most come with monthly subscriptions. If they say no subscription is required, they’re designed for hikers and climbers who start service in advance of a daylong or weeklong wilderness trip.

Bluetooth accessories that can connect your smartphone to satellite service, such as the Motorola Defy Satellite Link and Zoleo Satellite Communicator, start at $150. And all of these devices need monthly subscriptions to connect to the satellites.

Satellite SOS texting with emergency responders is available on all iPhone 14 and newer models. The service, not available on older iPhones released before September 2022, is free for two years after the phone is activated.

For Android users, all four varieties of Google Pixel 9 phones, which started rolling out in August 2024, have the same satellite SOS capabilities and the same two years of free satellite SOS use.

Satellite SOS service isn’t a failsafe. Apple points out that a message with an unobstructed satellite connection can take 15 seconds to send and more than a minute if trees with even a light cover of leaves obstruct your view of the sky. In a dense forest, you might not be able to connect at all.

Pro tip: Don’t forget that you can call 911 using cell service from your mobile phone even if you don’t have an active mobile plan. Keep an old, deactivated phone in your emergency kit or your vehicle’s glove compartment, but make sure it’s charged. If it’s not, use your car charger but make sure you have the correct cable for the car in advance.

If you have power and Wi-Fi but no cellular service, some apps let you make video and audio calls for help, including Facebook Messenger, Google Meet, FaceTime, TextNow and WhatsApp Messenger.

Low- and high-tech gadgets to get you power

Your smartphone can be your lifeline during a major weather incident, so make sure it has an Ingress Protection (IP) rating of at least 68, which means the phone can withstand dust, dirt and sand and can be submerged in water up to 30 minutes. If your phone isn’t waterproof, consider putting a couple of thick plastic zipper bags in your emergency kit to protect it.

A portable battery booster, also called a power bank, is a smart idea when you need to be away from an electrical outlet for a while or if the power goes out in your area. Make sure these backup battery packs are charged when you need them. They can hold a charge for a couple of months, so top them off every so often.

Prices start at about $40 for a brand-name battery. Keep in mind that the higher the milliamp hours (mAh), the more times the battery can charge a smartphone. Some have more than one USB port to plug into in case you want to juice up two phones simultaneously, or a phone plus a tablet or wireless earbuds.

Use your car’s USB port or 12-volt port to charge your devices during a power outage. But unplug them whenever you turn the car off so they won’t drain the vehicle’s battery.

A power inverter, such as the Duracell 800 Watt High Power Inverter ($139.99) that can jump-start your car’s dead battery, is also helpful in an emergency. Plus it houses two electrical outlets and one USB port to convert your car’s battery current into electricity that your devices can use. Bestek, Maxpart, Potek and Ysolx make similar inverters.

Make sure your home is protected

Storm-related power outages can significantly increase the chance for a house fire or carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, says Stephanie Berzinski, fire safety educator at Kidde. The manufacturer of fire safety products is named after founder Walter Kidde, a pioneer in early smoke detection and suppression.

“At home, be sure to have working battery-operated carbon monoxide and smoke alarms as well as fire extinguishers before a storm strikes,” she says.

Portable generators, candles and downed power lines all pose a risk. The Consumer Product Safety Commission warns about the danger of death involving portable generators, especially inside a home or attached garage.

Three purposes, one device. Kidde’s Smoke + Carbon Monoxide Alarm + Indoor Air Quality Monitor ($128.99) is billed as the first all-in-one smart home safety device to integrate smoke and CO detection with indoor air quality monitoring to detect multiple airborne threats to home, health and safety. The Wi-Fi-enabled and smart speaker-supported device includes a 10-year lithium backup battery in the event of a power outage. 

Battery-based generators, such as a line from Anker portable battery company, often have emergency lighting and optional solar-powered attachments that can charge up or run virtually any device during an emergency or when you’re off the grid camping or RVing.

If you live in an apartment, where a gas generator is not an option, a generator that uses a battery is ideal. It can power lights, laptops, medical equipment such as a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, and small appliances.

The Anker SOLIX C300 Portable Power Station ($199.99) offers three three-prong electrical outlets, a car socket and multiple USB-C ports. Bluetti, EcoFlow and Jackery offer similar products. 

A hand-crank and solar-powered radio, like the Etón Quest solar-powered NOAA weather radio and emergency flashlight ($129.99), features an AM-FM digital radio, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather bands, and a shortwave radio. The hand turbine and small solar panel keep it charged during emergencies.

The Quest has an alarm clock, an emergency red LED flashing beacon, a headphone jack, an LED flashlight and a USB port to charge a smartphone. FosPower, Kaito, Midland and Puiuisoul have similar products.