Make a Family Communications Plan

Your family may not be together when disaster strikes. During a major disaster local phone systems and cell phone systems may be jammed.

  • Plan how you will contact one another and what you will do.
  • Establish an out-of-town contact, perhaps a relative or friend.
  • Establish a meeting place outside your neighborhood, perhaps a family member or friend.
  • Make sure everyone has the contact numbers and addresses of the out-of-town contact and the meeting place.
  • Make sure family members have each other's contact numbers at work, school, daycare, etc.
  • Keep phone numbers up to date.

It's possible that during a major emergency, cell phone service may become overloaded as many people try to call family and friends.

In this situation, short text messages sent by cell phone may get through easier, since they take up far less "space" on the cell signal.

  • Make sure your phone list includes cell numbers
  • Learn how to use the text message feature on your cell phone
  • Practice it!

If you don't know how to text, ask your children or grandchildren to show you!

As a reminder, Maine state law forbids text messaging while driving.