AT&T, Sprint and Verizon rollout charging stations, portable cell sites to assist Oklahoma tornado victims

The top three carriers in the United States have deployed their emergency response teams to Moore, Oklahoma, a suburb of Oklahoma City, in the wake of the tornadoes that scored a bulls-eye for wreaking destruction.

AT&T and Sprint also announced today that it is waiving any voice, data and text overage charges where applicable for people that have been affected by storms that tore through the area yesterday. Verizon has donated $100,000 to be applied to customer’s bills.

In addition to the waiver of fees, the carriers are also rolling out their portable cell sites to the area and establishing charging stations. Verizon has noted the current charging stations at the Red Cross Shelter at 201 South Howard in Moore, Oklahoma; the Home Depot on SW 19th Street and Shawnee High School at 1001 North Kennedy in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

AT&T and Verizon customers that want to donate to assist recovery efforts may text “REDCROSS” to 90999, which will automatically donate $10 to be applied to your bill. Verizon has also teamed with The Salvation Army to allow donations by texting “STORM” to 80888. Texting fees have been waived and 100% of the donations pass through to those organizations.

If you have had intermittent communication with friends or family in the area, remember it is a good idea to try and use text messaging as it will ensure keeping capacity available for on the ground relief efforts underway.

sources: AT&T, Sprint, Verizon