Here comes Hurricane Irene: Charge 'em if you got 'em 26

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 9:40 am EDT

Hurricane Irene

Here's a quick no-brainer or two from your hurricane-prone pals at Android Central for those of you in the path of Hurricane Irene, scheduled to make landfall along the North Carolina coast on Saturday:

Charge your phones. Now. Keep them charged. And once the storm starts, keep them off. You'll likely lose power at some point, and there's a good chance your local cell network will go down for a bit, even with generator backups.
Spare batteries. If you got 'em, make sure they're charged, too. If you still have time to get some, do it.
After the storm, text messages work best. Any carrier will tell you this, and we saw it again with that little shake the mid-Atlantic states got on Tuesday. If the network's up, it's going to be clogged, and calls might not go through. Text messages have a much better chance.
If you're worried about damage and don't have a traditional camera, use your phone to take a few pictures of your home and your belongings. It'll make insurance claims much easier, should it come to that.

Any tips you folks want to share? Let's hear 'em.

More: Latest on Irene from the National Hurricane Center; Image credit: LSU Earth Scan Labratory

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26 Comments

Posted by brdl04 on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 9:45 am EDT

I've been through 4 hurricanes in my life...

advice?

Get a helmet.....

Posted by janter on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 9:51 am EDT

My advice, go out and get the following.
Week supply of pop-tarts, snacks, fruits and bottled water.
Batteries &flashlight
Lighter & candles
A good book or a woman.

Posted by markp on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:32 am EDT

Ha ha, good advice. I've got it all (I keep a well stocked pantry), including 5 gallon collapsable water bags. I moved out of Florida two years ago to the mid-Atlantic, so this is just routine. We'll see if this house can stand the wind, but at least I'm far enough inland to avoid the storm surge.

And I've got both good books and a good woman. I'm set here.

Posted by Tim Stiffler-Dean on Sat, 27 Aug 2011 2:46 am EDT

I've got plenty of good books - any women out there need a safe place to stay? ;)

Posted by Anthogno on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 9:46 am EDT

That is the least WebOs news ive ever seen on this site

Posted by janter on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 9:49 am EDT

remember when we were all waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting for the pre 3 before the touchpad came out... that was the slowest i've ever seen this site.

Posted by rsanchez1 on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:10 am EDT

Really slow webOS news cycle now.

Here's how it looks today:
-Write an article on webOS.O.S.
-Write an article on some rumor of someone possibly acquiring webOS but not really
-Let Ashley hypnotize the boys that visit this site
-Write another article on webOS.O.S.
-Report on Steve Jobs stepping down, brushing his teeth, walking his dog, etc.
-Cross post from Android Central/TiPb/WPCentral/Mom's Basement
-???
-Profit? (Please?)

Posted by mgbmusic on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:14 am EDT

Oh, I don't know. I've seen some doozies, but in general, I'd have to agree...

Posted by janter on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 9:48 am EDT

Even on a full charge my pre only lasts around 6 hours :(

Posted by chekmate on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:36 am EDT

What's your secret? Mine lasts around 4 hours..

Posted by ceveret3 on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:52 am EDT

turn off data. It sucks but turning off 3g makes you phone last about 8 to 10 hours. And you can still call and text

Posted by Diesel Donkey on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 11:52 am EDT

Try a new battery. But get Dr. Battery from Preware first to see if that's really the issue.

Posted by Anthogno on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 2:33 pm EDT

I am still rocking Pre-, 3G on with 3 bars. Updating 3 email acc every hour. Sending few texts, calling. Overclocked to 1ghz on 1.4.5
Holds up for 24 hours. For everything else i use iPod touch. Have to charge multiple times every day

Posted by rocketace150 on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 9:50 am EDT

Make sure you gas in your car and generator if you own one. Car chargers are useful as well.

-S.Fla since Hurricane Andrew

Posted by vivajay69 on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:05 am EDT

With a touchstone...Shouldn't we not care about whether our phone or tablet is fully charged if you can simply just use THAT to charge it?

Posted by erichalv on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:16 am EDT

Despite the lore and legends surrounding the touchstone, they are not self sufficient magical devices and do require electricity to charge phones and tablets.

Posted by sepherous on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:44 am EDT

lol

Posted by Bishounen on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:47 am EDT

Ummm.. Your touchstone has to be plugged in to something to actually charge the battery. It's an electromagnet.

Posted by vaslin on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:38 am EDT

Turn your phone from vibrate to sound.
Turn off WiFi.
Keep your UPS charged until the last moment.
Use the UPS to recharge your phones.

Buy and fill up gas tanks! After the storm, the stations will have gas, but no way to pump them out.

Buy a deck of cards. You'll be bored.

Buy charcoal, all the food in your freezer will need to be cooked. Just don't cook charcoal indoors.

Have beer on hand for the party in the street afterwards. Server the bar-b-q that you just cooked to your neighbors.
-- S. Florida resident.

Posted by GTAFan9999 on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 11:49 am EDT

Best of luck to the poeple on the U.S coast. But look on the bright side though, you're getting things that Texas REALLY needs (Pst, it's rain).

Posted by slayerpsp on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:13 pm EDT

Good luck all stay safe. Sure glad i live on the west coast dont have weather like that here

Posted by e-gadget-guy on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 2:55 pm EDT

PLenty of clean water stored. Buy Ice to cool food in cooler, charcoal as previously mentioned. Candles, etc. Canned and non-perishables that don't need to be cooked. I like the UPS idea. Fill up all gas tanks/containers. Find a place to hide that's not too close to shore, too low, or unshielded OR leave the area. board up windows... If you stay and you here a freight train... bend over and kiss... never mind...

Posted by vaslin on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 3:09 pm EDT

Few more things...

Even if you're in the eye wall, there is no thunder or lightning. It's weird.

I use duct tape to seal all my windows from the outside.

Placing a big X on your windows with tape is a waste of tape.

Do realize that if you're not in an evacuation area, and you try to leave, you'll probably get stuck in traffic when it hits. Sometimes it's best to stay where you are and 'hunker-down'.

Fill your bathtub with water. Then if you loose water during the storm, you can get a bucket and dump it in the toilet to flush it.

Posted by Jared on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 8:38 pm EDT

Actuall don't SMS, use data instead. SMS exchanges are very low bandwidth - I know, I run one of only a handful in the world. What this means is texting network to network generally clogs up, same network might be ok.

HOWEVER - Data on the other hand, is much more reliable after a natural disaster. I would recommend using email, or other chat protocols such as AIM, google chat, facebook chat, etc. These don't rely on SMS exchanges and will work fine on clogged networks.

-Jared

Posted by dgreekd on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:44 pm EDT

Get cash! If stores in your area do open without power (which I used to do with the market I once owned), they can't swipe your card. So unless mom & pop run a tab for you, then you are S**t out of luck.

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