The Best Ways To Communicate With Family After A Disaster Without A Cell Or Land Line Service

Emergencies occur unexpectedly and can leave family members dispersed and out of touch. One of the hardest parts of recovering from a major or minor disaster can be finding each other again. A family preparedness plan increases your chances of staying in touch even during a disaster. Sit down with each other, and spell out ways you'll stay in contact with each other.

Use Other Relatives

Create an emergency contact list for yourself and your family. Include out-of-state relatives, the fire department and county, state and federal emergency services. Designate an out-of-state relative as your contact point. This person will hopefully be away from the disaster area and can serve as a go-between for family members trying to reach each other. These relatives can also serve as designation points for relatives to travel to when a disaster forces family members from their home.

Text and Internet

Send text messages during the emergency. Texts are more likely to go through when cell service is down as they are smaller pieces of information and require less work on the part of the cell towers. Texts will also stay in the queue until they can be sent. Set up email accounts for members of your family. People have often found that the Internet still works when local phone services go down. Many people have Internet via cable companies, so they operate on a different system from telephone lines.

Radios and Satellite Phones

Purchase satellite phones for your family members. They are more expensive than cell phones; however, satellite phones communicate directly via satellites, which aren't usually affected by ground-based disasters. Also purchase two-way radios for the family to use to communicate with each other locally. These devices are battery powered and send transmissions to each other via transmitters and antennas. They don't rely on mobile towers, satellites or land lines to communicate.

Government and Disaster Relief

Government agencies and disaster relief groups operating in the area will also work to connect relatives and people looking for each other. Contact these groups during an emergency and give your name. They frequently keep lists of names of people who survived the disaster and will help anyone they can by taking short messages. You can get in touch with these groups and give them your name. Designate which agencies and groups your family is to contact before an emergency does occur.

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