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Digital Preparedness Kit

Digital preparedness is an important way to stay informed and connected before, during and after an emergency.

Top 10 Digital Preparedness Tips

Tell your friends & family you are OK via text, email, Twitter, Facebook and other social media.
Learn how to send updates via text and internet from your mobile phone to your contacts and social channels in case voice communications are not available. Avoid calling by phone.
If you have a life-threatening emergency, call 9-1-1. Remember that you cannot currently text 9-1-1. If you are not experiencing an emergency, do not call 9-1-1.
Save important phone numbers to your phone.
Keep charged batteries and car-phone chargers available as back-up power for your cell phone.
Conserve your cell phone battery by reducing the brightness of your screen, placing your phone in airplane mode, and closing apps you are not using that draw power.
Immediately following a disaster, resist using your mobile device to watch streaming videos, download music or videos, or play video games, all of which can add to network congestion. Limiting use of these services can help potentially life-saving emergency calls get through to 9-1-1.
If you do not have a cell phone, keep a prepaid phone card to use if needed during or after a disaster.
Charge your digital camera or buy batteries for your film camera if you need to document storm damage afterwards.
Get connected with us through the tools listed on this page: texts, Twitter and more.

Tools

Twitter [mobile] [ fast follow by text/sms]

Accounts to follow: @fairfaxcounty @vdem, @vadot, @fema, @femaregion3

Get Organized

Store your important documents such as personal and financial records in a password-protected area in the Cloud or a secure flash or jump drive that you can keep readily available. This flash drive can be kept on a key ring so it can be accessed from any computer, anytime, anywhere. Remember important documents, such as:

Personal and property insurance
Identification: Driver's License/Passport (for family members, as well)
Banking information
Don't forget your pets!
- Store your pet's veterinary medical records documents online.
- Consider an information digital implant.
- Keep a current photo of your pet in your online kit to aid in identification if you are separated.
Use Northern Virginia's online emergency planner to make a family communications plan.