Hurricane Sandy: apps and tips

Hurricane Sandy is approaching the north-eastern U.S. shores threatening to hit states from Virginia to the south up to Massachusetts in the north, and storm its way into Pennsylvania before starting to die down. What makes it particularly dangerous is the fact that not only it is a category 1 hurricane, but as it heads north it will combine with a winter storm from the west. Experts have named this “perfect storm” as such conditions last occurred in New England nearly thirty years ago.

Making matters worse, Hurricane Sandy combines with full moon and this means that tidal forces will be at their strongest. It’s also a slow storm and once it hits, it will linger on for about 24 hours. It’s expected to reach the U.S. shores around Monday evening, so you still have time to prepare and we strongly advise you to do so.

Here a couple of advices for what you can do in terms of communications.

First, make sure your electronics are fully charged up. Get a spare charger, an extra battery (if your phone allows you to easily swap batteries, that’d be perfect).

Next, take a quick look at our battery life tips that should give you a hint at how to make the most use of that battery in case of a power outage. Keeping brightness as low as possible is the best thing you can do.

If you are in New York, sign up for Notify NYC. The city’s 311 system will send out text messages and voice alerts. You can also follow the system on Twitter at @NotifyNYC.

Finally, get that good old feature phone out of its hiding grounds deep in some drawer and charge it up. While you may flaunt your brand new iPhone, Android or Windows Phone to your friends, its battery simply won’t last in the worst case scenario of a longer power outage.

We have also prepared a few essential apps for you to track the hurricane straight from your phone. But most importantly - don't underestimate this storm, meteorologists are calling it unprecedented in many ways, take precautions, evacuate if you are in the danger zone and stay safe!

Hurricane Sandy: apps and tips

Hurricane - American Red Cross - Free

FEMA - Free

ICE: In case of emergency

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posted on 29 Oct 2012, 04:00 9

1. loken (Posts: 462; Member since: 09 May 2012)

best to have an android or you will get lost with apple maps..

posted on 29 Oct 2012, 07:59

8. TheLibertine (Posts: 484; Member since: 15 Jan 2012)

Actually, Apple is so genius they foresaw how the world will look like after this and adjusted Maps from the start...!

posted on 29 Oct 2012, 04:27 1

2. crapdroid666 (Posts: 24; Member since: 29 Oct 2012)

this is very serious. I wouldnt risk my life by using an android app. androids will lag and crash. use ios or blackberry or windows phone.

posted on 29 Oct 2012, 04:29 8

3. mrbtree98 (Posts: 50; Member since: 04 Aug 2012)

atleast we have a working maps application

posted on 29 Oct 2012, 04:31 2

4. crapdroid666 (Posts: 24; Member since: 29 Oct 2012)

if people do not have a flagship android it will crash and lag. even galaxy s2 lagged and crashed while playing fruit ninja fast enough

posted on 29 Oct 2012, 04:58 7

6. theBankRobber (Posts: 682; Member since: 22 Sep 2011)

My Motorola Photon isn't really a flagship phone and it doesn't have lag or crash issues. You don't know what the f**k your talking about and should just keep your mouth shut and hands off the keyboard.

posted on 29 Oct 2012, 08:03 4

9. Slammer (Posts: 1515; Member since: 03 Jun 2010)

Like you said, this is a very serious threat and I think any added assistance for "Any" device is a must. You need to back off the cheerleading of the iproduct for a moment and focus on the nature of the current event.

John B.

posted on 29 Oct 2012, 08:37

10. asseek (Posts: 164; Member since: 12 Sep 2012)

well said John B.

posted on 29 Oct 2012, 04:34 3

5. mrbtree98 (Posts: 50; Member since: 04 Aug 2012)

my "retired" lg optimus black begs to differ. it ran apps like dead trigger, fruit ninja and frontline commando fine with barely a hint of lag at all. my one x of course eats it to shreds but ios crashes more often than android, you just don't see it because you get ejected straight back to your app drawer.