There was a hurricane. Are you OK??
Anyone hear from Mom? I can’t get in touch w/her.
Hi, family. I’m all right, but my house isn’t. No power. Cell service is here and there. Love and miss you. Jen.
Almost a week after landfall, millions were left without power after Hurricane Helene walloped parts of Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. The death toll as of Wednesday, Oct. 2, from the Category 4 storm was up more than 160, with hundreds of people still missing.
Western North Carolina, WNC, in particular was hit hard.
As authorities and rescue teams assess the damage, there’s a question of communication − or lack thereof − after a natural disaster such as this.
Below are some tips and quick hits on how to communicate with a loved one − even if you don’t have service or your cell phone battery is on borrowed time.
Hurricane Helene damage pics in Florida:Steinhatchee, especially, is in ruins. See flood aerial, drone images
If you’re preserving your cell phone battery, consider recording a message to let your family and friends know you’re OK.
- If you’re able, re-record your voicemail greeting. Instead of “Please leave a message after the beep,” perhaps change the voicemail greeting to, “This is Jen. Hurricane damage is minor at the house. No power as of (Wednesday, Oct. 2). I’ll reach out when I can.” This voice message lets your contacts know you’re OK, that you’re experiencing a power outage and that you will contact them.
In Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” and “Avengers: Endgame,” Tony Stark did something similar for Pepper Potts. In this YouTube clip from “Iron Man 3,” Stark’s Malibu home had just been destroyed by a missile attack and Potts watched as the home was dragged into the sea, presumably with Stark. Later in the movie, Potts, played by Academy Award winner Gwyneth Paltrow, picks up Iron Man’s helmet, which has a voice message waiting for her, saying he survived − and apologizing for putting her in danger.
In the above YouTube clip from “Avengers: Endgame,” Tony Stark, played by Academy Award winner Robert Downey Jr., does this again − this time sending Pepper Potts a message from space.
Update your Facebook status, mark yourself as ‘safe’ via Facebook Safety Check or post a message on Facebook
When friends, family and acquaintances are wondering how you are, they’ll typically seek you out on social media. They’ll do the same when a natural disaster or big breaking news event happens in your area.
- Post a status message on Facebook. It could be a selfie photo, video clip or text-only to get your message across.
- Use Facebook Messenger to make audio or video calls.
- Use the Facebook app with location services enabled. Facebook has used its technology to create “Facebook disaster maps,” breaking down its technology in a 2017 Facebook blog post: “After a natural disaster, humanitarian organizations need to know where affected people are located, what resources are needed, and who is safe. This information is extremely difficult and often impossible to capture through conventional data collection methods in a timely manner. As more people connect and share on Facebook, our data is able to provide insights in near-real time to help humanitarian organizations coordinate their work and fill crucial gaps in information during disasters.”
- “Check in.” Facebook has said the company aggregates and shares Safety Check data to show where people are indicating that they are safe. According to the social networking site, “Facebook Safety Check helps people connect with friends and family during a disaster. People are invited that might be affected by the crisis to check in safe. Once they have checked in, they can then invite others that might be affected. In this way, invitations to check in safe spread to people on Facebook who are likely affected by a disaster.”
Post a message on Instagram
- Post a photo or simple social card (through a program like Canva) on Instagram as your status message. It could be text-only to get your message across.
- Post a selfie photo.
- Post a video clip or Instagram Reel.
- Post an Instagram Story − you could go one step further and save the Instagram Story as an Instagram Highlight since Instagram Stories typically disappear after 24 hours.
Post on Twitter and pin the message
- If you’re on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, share a post there, too. It can be text only, a selfie photo, photo or video.
- If you’re sending multiple tweets, you have the option to pin one of the tweets to the top of your profile.
Communicate via WhatsApp, social media platform
WhatsApp is like texting, with the ability to messages, photos and video. It’s phone number-based and a popular tool used overseas.
Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network-Florida. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.
