It’s more crucial than ever to make sure your phone can clearly and loudly notify you of danger. This is particularly true because hurricane season has already begun and Texas had terrible flooding earlier this month. They will only work if people know how urgent the situation is and receive emergency alerts on time. A lot of Texans, meanwhile, said they got flood warnings too late or not at all, which shows that public alerting systems aren’t perfect.
Follow the steps below to make sure your phone is set up to send emergency notifications that can break through silent mode, wake you up, and maybe even save your life in an emergency, whether you live in a tornado alley, a hurricane-prone area, or simply want to be ready.
1. Turn on iPhones’ wireless emergency alerts:
Under Settings > Notifications, choose Government Alerts.
Make sure that the Public Safety Alerts, Emergency Alerts, and Always Play Sound settings are all turned on.
It is very important to have the “Always Play Sound” option. This makes sure that alerts will still ring even if your phone is in Do Not Disturb or silent mode.
For Android devices:
Under Settings > Safety & Emergency, choose Wireless Emergency Alerts. Depending on the sort of phone you have, this may be in a different place.
Turn on Allow Alerts and make sure that Extreme Threats and Severe Threats are both switched on.
These alerts use a loud, clear tone and vibration pattern to get your attention, even in the middle of the night.
2. To make sure it’s accurate, turn on location services.
Emergency alerts are typically sent to specific areas. If your phone doesn’t know where you are, it can’t receive a relevant alert.
About iPhones:
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Weather.
Turn on Precise Location and set it to Always Allow.
For Android devices:
Check that your emergency or weather apps have authorization to access your location.
If your phone can use “Use Precise Location,” switch it on.
You risk missing localized notifications or, more annoyingly, getting alerts for places you’re not in if you don’t have location services.
3. Add local alert services and weather applications as a supplement.
It’s important to get government alerts, but there are other methods to stay informed too. In the event of an emergency weather event, redundancy is essential to keeping safe.
Put on apps like Storm Shield, NOAA Weather Radar Live, and the American Red Cross Emergency App. A lot of them can also bypass quiet mode.
Additionally, don’t forget to register for your county’s or city’s emergency alert system, which could include targeted emails, phone calls, or texts. Having many mechanisms in place guarantees that, even in the event that one alarm is overlooked or fails, you will still get the information.
4. As a backup, use a NOAA weather radio.
Technology isn’t always reliable. Towers of cells collapse. The power is cut off. The National Weather Service advises having a battery-operated NOAA Weather Radio on hand because of this. Particularly at night or during power outages, a weather radio may literally save lives and is never dependent on cell connectivity.
SAME (Specific Area Message Encoding) to configure for your area, loud alarms, and several power sources (battery, solar, and crank) are all considered best practices. Midland and Raynic radios, which are readily accessible online, are dependable choices.
5. Regularly test your system
Your alarm system requires upkeep, much like a smoke detector. Here are some tips for keeping your system in good condition:
Verify that WEA notifications are still enabled on a regular basis.