Are you ready?

Take a look at the apps currently loaded on your smart phone or tablet. Can any of them save your life or the lives of your family in the event of an emergency?

September is National Emergency Preparedness Month.  Locally, the state's Emergency Management Agency/Homeland Security has launched Ready Georgia to help residents prepare and hopefully live through a natural disaster or emergency.  

Prepare, Plan and Stay Informed  

While Ready Georgia’s website is filled with useful data and common sense tips – like having a family communication plan and stocking-up on water, food, and access to a battery-powered radio, it was the Ready Georgia app that caught my eye and got me thinking about how my phone and other technology might be helpful during an emergency. The free app for Apple and Android was developed by Vert, an Atlanta-based a mobile and marketing social media agency. The app offers a number of features that can help you prepare and navigate through a number of emergencies.  Kevin Planovsky, Principal, Account Strategist  for Vert said the first version of the app launched two years ago. “Since then we have updated ReadyGA to support more features and platforms and the codebase has been shared  - free, due to Federal funds - to about a dozen other states. Additionally, we worked with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management  to create a version for them and now Ohio wants one too!"

 I looked at my iPhone to see what apps I could immediately rely on if faced with an emergency. I had a flashlight app, several weather and traffic apps, a gas station locator app installed, but I certainly saw an urgent need to add a few more to my library.  Here’s what I’ll be downloading soon.

 Red Cross

FEMA

American Heart Association 

ICE In Case of Emergency 

iMPrepared  

Apps For Emergencies

Please don’t take any of my app choices as endorsements, but simply suggestions.

Also check out these 25 tech gadgets that might prove helpful in a pinch.

When I first moved here, plenty of people told me to brace for some very wicked and often dangerous weather this summer.  But so far, for the most part, all I’ve seen is a lot of rain. But this isn’t the time for any of us to let our guards down. Typically this time of the year we would be at the peak of the tropical season, but so far we've only had six storms and no hurricanes. But the weather folks are starting to notice weather patterns that suggests hurricane season still might throw us a couple of powerful punches. So, it’s no time to get complacent, rather it’s an opportunity to get ready and be prepared.