Those cell phones we rely on for emergency alerts and updates?
They might not work during power shutoffs.
Amid the PG&E power shutoffs in October, cell tower outages were widespread throughout Northern California, with nearly 60% of the cell towers in Marin County down for the count.
Currently there is no state or federal requirement that telecom companies provide backup power for cell towers – but state regulators are looking at ways to make cell providers do a better job of keeping their networks operational during a power outage.
With no emergency alerts, no communication and no way of checking updates on the internet, it looks like I need to make my emergency planning a lot more self-sufficient.