Keep up to date with your mobile phone
According to the American Red Cross (via twitter), “Gustav is the largest Red Cross relief effort since Katrina. If you are told to evacuate, please do so.” In an effort to keep people informed of the location and severity of Gustav and other tropical storms and hurricanes, here is a list of some mobile resources. You will notice that several of the links are from Twitter. In the event that twitter becomes overloaded, other possible microblog sources are Jaiku or FriendFeed:
- Evacuations.mobi is a mobile site with links to hurricane information in real time, and also includes information on what to pack for a hurricane kit. It explains the different categories of hurricanes and has information on evacuation of pets as well as people. Evacuations.mobi offers satellite pictures in both iPhone size and standard mobile size.
- Weather.mobi is the mobile version of the Weather Channel’s weather.com site.
- NOAA has text updates of Gustav’s status.
- m.twitter.com Twitter users learn information first via microblogging, or mass text messaging. Additionally, use of twitter is a good way to let family and friends know where you are and that you are safe. I personally used twitter during last year’s San Diego fire when the Mayor urged residents to keep mobile phone voice lines clear for emergency responders. If you only want specific people to see your messages, be sure to select “protected updates” and then you can manually approve any followers.
- American Red Cross on Twitter The American Red Cross is posting frequent updates via twitter (username @redcross).
- Gustav microblogs on twitter This is a computer link that may work on a smartphone – it is a search link for everyone who has sent messages about Hurricane Gustav.
Feel free to post additional resources as you find them in the comments section. Please make sure the links are mobile, otherwise indicate that they are for computers only. For example, if you are entering a twitter account, be sure to use this format: m.twitter.com/username.
Stay safe out there. Reminder: check your mobile provider’s plan to ensure you are not surprised by per-minute charges for surfing the internet with your phone.
Edit: The Chicago Tribune has a team of reporters in Louisiana giving updates on twitter (username @GustavReporter).
