Plan how you'll know and how you'll reach them

Communication breaks into two questions: how will you learn what's happening, and how will you reach the people who matter? Both fail in the same way — when the thing you rely on (a phone app, a push notification, a single contact) goes down. A useful comms plan builds redundancy: more than one way to get information, and a written contact list that survives a dead battery. This page covers the alerts, the radio, the phone, and the written plan that keep you informed and connected when the network isn't.

Know how you'll get alerts

Sign up for your local emergency alerts — most counties use a system like Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) or a local opt-in text service. Add a NOAA weather radio with SAME coding so it alerts only for your county, not every alert in the region. The radio works when the cell network is congested or down, which is exactly when you need it. NOAA and the NWS publish guidance on weather radios.

Keep the radio where you'll hear it, with fresh batteries or a hand-crank/solar option so it runs during an extended outage. A battery radio in a drawer isn't a plan; a radio you've tested, with batteries you've checked, is. If you live somewhere with tornado, hurricane, or wildfire warnings, a weather radio isn't optional. The alerts come whether the power's on or not.

Don't rely on a single source. A phone alert plus a weather radio plus a local news station on a battery radio is a real plan. One app is a hope. The redundancy is what makes the plan hold up — when the phone alert doesn't come, the radio does; when the radio's down, the phone may work. Two sources is a plan; one source is a guess.

Know how your phone's emergency alerts work. WEA alerts come through automatically; local opt-in systems may need you to sign up. Some phones mute alerts in do-not-disturb; check your settings. The alert that doesn't wake you because the phone was on silent is an alert that didn't work. Configure the phone so the alerts get through.

For a household with kids or anyone who needs help understanding alerts, plan who watches the alerts and who relays them. A kid may not check their phone for a tornado warning; the adult who does and tells them is the plan. The alert system is only as good as the person who acts on it. Know who in the household is the alert-watcher.

Keep your phone alive and backed up

A charged phone is your most useful comms tool until it isn't. Keep a power bank charged and a car charger as a backup — your vehicle is a big battery you can use to top up a phone. If outages are common where you live, a small portable power station that can run a phone and a radio for a day is worth it. The power basics page covers sizing the power source.

Write down the numbers that matter, on paper. When your phone is dead, you can't look up your spouse's number in your contacts, your child's school's line, or your doctor's office. A wallet-sized card with the key contacts and two meeting points is the backup that never runs out of battery. The family communication card tool prints one. Ready.gov recommends a written communications plan.

Texts often get through when calls don't — they use less bandwidth and queue up on the network. During a widespread event, call networks congest first; SMS and data may still work. Plan to text first, call second. The 'text first' rule is the difference between reaching someone and getting a busy signal all night.

Conserve the phone's battery. Turn on low-power mode, turn down the brightness, close background apps, and don't stream video during an outage. A phone that lasts 36 hours is more useful than one that lasts 6. The battery management is part of the comms plan — a dead phone with a full contact list is a brick.

Keep the charger with the go-bag and in the car. A phone that's charged but has no charger is a phone that's going to die. The cable and the wall plug and the car plug all live with the emergency supplies, not in the everyday bag. The charging kit is part of the comms plan, not a separate afterthought.

Plan for when the network is down

If the cell and internet networks are down, your options narrow. A battery or hand-crank radio still gets broadcast information. A satellite messenger (like a Garmin inReach or similar) works where cell doesn't but requires a subscription and a clear sky — a tool for rural households or serious outdoor use, not a default for an urban apartment. Know what's realistic for your situation.

For reaching family across a downed local network, an out-of-area contact helps: someone outside your region who can relay messages between household members when local lines are jammed. It's an old trick that still works because landlines and cell networks often fail regionally, not nationally. The navigation page covers the out-of-area contact in more depth.

Ham radio is a real option for dedicated preppers, but it requires a license and training. For most households, the realistic plan is: alerts via a weather radio, a charged phone with a power bank, a written contact card, and an out-of-area contact. Anything beyond that is a hobby, not a baseline. The FCC licenses amateur radio; it's a commitment, not a quick prep.

Plan for the scenario where all the tech is down. If you can't reach anyone, what do you do? Know the meeting point, know the shelter, know the route. A comms plan that assumes the network is up is a plan that fails when the network is down. The low-tech backup — a meeting point, a written plan, a known shelter — is the part that holds when the high-tech parts don't.

The honest summary: the comms plan is redundancy. Two alert sources, a charged phone with a power bank, a written contact card, a weather radio, and an out-of-area contact. No single piece is the plan; the redundancy is the plan. When one fails, the next holds. The household that has one comms method is hoping; the household that has four is planning.

This is planning guidance, not emergency advice. In an emergency, call 911. See a mistake? Report it.

Keep planning the basics