30 Days to Better Preparedness. Day 23. Communications.
Todays subject is another important one! Communications.
Imagine the power is out and/or the internet is down. In Australia we can keep our phones charged but after a couple of hours the towers that transmit the signals also go out. They seem to have only a couple hours back up power. Great. Especially in a bushfire or fast paced crisis where communications are vital.
I am told in the US the towers have back up generators. So I am not sure how long they run before mobile phones fail. But here it is about two hours.
We keep an old fashioned land line. So if the power is out I plug that in. In theory I should still be able to call emergency numbers. Both my daughters and Mum had land lines also. We have purposely kept them (in a world of getting rid of them) for this reason.
For this exercise lets assume the power and internet are down and also the mobile phones. So what is the plan? How do you find out what is going on? What to do?
Your neighbours are no better off so they can't help. Imagine this scenario after a few days....
One option is to go sit in the car and turn on the radio. In a disaster the Gov will issue ratio emergency transmissions and alerts. Having access to a radio is absolutely vital. Every household needs a battery operated radio. I keep the batteries on hand rather than in the radio so I don't risk a leaky or corroded battery messing up my radio. The car radio may be an option but it is safer to have a radio in the house. Just in case.
We have been in the position of relying on our radio to figure out what on earth was going on when the whole state lost power. I have to say it was incredible. No one really knew what had happened. Via the radio we could find out as news came in what had happened and also be alerted to many dangers. Stay off the road was one of them as traffic lights, trains, everything had stopped working.
We also now have a CB radio. This gives us another communication option. It will let us talk to the local area at least. It does give us some possibilities to get messages out and possibly also messages passed along to a wider area. Relay style.
I am going to stress to Mum and the girls that if something was to happen to stay put. Leave it to us to try and get to them not the other way around. Imagine if both parties headed off to try and find the other.
So get your self a battery operated radio, one for each household in your family. Find out what channel your local authorities would broadcast on. One more thing done from out list! xxx
Than you so much Annabel for your wise words. I have started my black out box adding each week as I find different items. About 20 years ago when we moved to Northern NSW we had blackouts every month due to being at the end of the line for the electricity company. We were prepared back then but now have become complacent and your preparedness series has made me be prepared and remember what it was like back then. Thanks Kerry
ReplyDeleteDear Kerry,
DeleteThank you and Im so glad you are thinking back to those times. It is really easy to get complacent and a big shock when things go wrong! We all need a review now and then! With love Annabel.xxx
We have a crank up radio. I think we have had it since 1999. It has been used countless hours in a power outage situation. I not sure the USA cell towers go down unless they are damaged. A jump starter is a good thing to have on hand to charge phones. I am not sure we know anyone with a landline!
ReplyDeleteDear Lana, A crank radio is a really good idea. I am going to see if we can get them! Love Annabel.xxx
DeleteAnnabel, try Aussie Disposal stores or camping store for hand crank radios. We have one, takes a lot of cranking but better than nothing in an emergency.
DeleteMargaret
Hi Annabel, I am in Western Australia and we have been told that if you have NBN connected to your house, there is now power to the phone line so if the power is out your old landline phone won’t work these days. Might be worth checking in other parts of Australia.
ReplyDeleteThank you for mentioning that! No NBN here and I am not a fan of the NBN so in Adelaide we had planned to not have it. But here it just has never happened.xxx
DeleteDo you still get “ real” radio on short or long wave frequencies? We only get radio online now, so there isn’t any reception if the internet is down. There was quite a fuss when they stopped broadcasting real radio, because many communities in deep fjord valleys can’t get the internet radio at all. They have taken all telephone landlines down in our area, too, whether or not we wanted to keep them. It’s mobile phones or nothing now.
ReplyDeleteDear Gill, I didnt know this! Yes we still have real radio stations and radio. Now I am glad! xxx
DeleteGood point about the car radio. I have a battery-operated radio that is also a wind-up and can be plugged in if you have electricity. I think that having a designated person to check on others is inspired, however I'm thinking it should work the other way--younger checking on older, especially if someone has to drive. (I know having you check on your kids is your mother hen instinct at work but there comes a time when it is better to have the young check on the old, plus it's a teachable moment).
ReplyDeleteThe telephone company didn't even bother to install wire in our neighborhood. Probably thought they wouldn't get enough business to justify the cost. Thus, you cannot get a genuine landline where I live, although the older parts of the city have it. If you have a plug-in phone in my neighborhood, it is VOiP (Voice over Internet Protocol), which requires both internet and electric power to work. If any of your readers have installed VOiP through their cable company (it's usually cheaper, especially when bundled), they should know it isn't going to work if either the internet or the power goes out. (I just looked this up because I wasn't sure).
As for batteries, I keep them in flashlights (torches) but I put them in upside down. The minute I turn on the switch and it doesn't come on, I'm reminded to check and turn them right side up. This way, I don't have to hunt for batteries when I need them most. Then I have light to find them for radios, etc.
Hi Annabel,
ReplyDeleteThe baby bird photo is precious.
I think I have one better than the battery operated radio. I invested in a hand crank one back before 2000. You crank the side handle and the radio plays for I think 30 minutes. All you have to do is crank more for more time. We have used it quite a few times during tornado watches/warnings.
Blessings, Laura
This was good info and good food for thought! We have kept our landline too! So glad we did! We also have a couple of battery powered radios as well as a wind up one. Living in Western Washington state in the US, we also have an earthquake emergency bin in the garage. I need to go through it again. That’s where the windup radio is. So appreciate you doing this series! Such good ideas and lots to consider! Thank-you so much!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree! Friends laugh at me because I've kept my old landline but during a couple of long power cuts I could reach people and get information when cell phones failed.
ReplyDeleteI also have a battery powered radio and yes, I would have been lost without it!