What Are Your Must-Have Emergency Preparedness Apps?
If you had to pick 3 Must-Have Emergency Preparedness Apps which mobile apps would you choose? With so many apps promising to do this or do that, finding the right apps can be a challenge. To simplify the selection process, I picked apps that you can quickly set up on your Apple or Android mobile device and did not require a fee or subscription service.
FEMA App
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s FEMA app is “your one-stop-shop with tools and tips to keep you safe before, during, and after disasters.” The app provides alerts, shelter locations, allows you to keep a list of emergency kit items, safety tips, and provides access to Disaster Assistance.
American Red Cross Emergency App
The American Red Cross provides access to 12 different mobile apps, however not all the apps deal with emergency planning. I recommend downloading the Emergency App, which allows you to monitor “35 different severe weather and emergency alert.”
You may also want to consider downloading the First Aid, Pet First Aid, Tornado, Hurricane, Earthquake, Wildfire, and Flood apps depending on where you live.
If you have kids ages 7-11, download Monster Guard, the app is designed to teach children about real-life emergencies at home. Disney sponsors the app and is fun and educational at the same time.
Both the FEMA App and the American Red Cross Emergency App provide weather alerts, so do you need another app that includes weather information? Probably not, but I am a firm believer that the best apps do one thing very well.
The Weather Channel App
The Weather Channel App provides forecast and timely local weather alerts. The app has a cognitive home screen that changes based on your current location, you can even track developing storms, and you can watch weather shows and features. The only drawback is the ads, but if you don’t want the ads, you can pay $3.99 to rid yourself of the ads for one year.
My 3 Must-Have Emergency Preparedness Apps are the FEMA App, the Emergency App, and the Weather Channel App, best of all they are free and available in both the App Store or Google Play Store. So, do you have a favorite Emergency Preparedness App, if so, I would love to hear from you?
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Copyright 2018
*Apple, the Apple logo and App Store, are trademarks of Apple. Google, the Google logo, and Google Play are trademarks of Google. American Red Cross, The Weather Channel, and their respective logos are trademarks. Other company, logos and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
About The Author
Bernard D. Gollotti, CPP is an ASIS International Board-Certified Security Professional with the designation of Certified Protection Professional (CPP) with over thirty-five (35) years real-world experience across multiple market verticals and disciplines.