QUESTION: Natural disasters: how to contact loved ones during an emergency?

Losing contact with family during a natural disaster causes extreme stress, so you need to prepare for communication in advance. To successfully overcome the consequences in an emergency situation, it is useful to have two or three ready alternatives: backup communication channels, alternative flights, alternative hotels, and a backup evacuation route. Having a pre-thought-out Plan B significantly saves nerves and time at a critical moment.

Before your trip, agree with your loved ones on a single point of contact—a person living in another region or country who will coordinate information. Agree that if you lose connection, you will send short text messages via messengers or SMS, as they go through even when the telephone network is overloaded. Install applications for offline messaging via Bluetooth in case of a complete outage of mobile internet and cell towers.