Impact of Technology in the wake of Hurricane Harvey [As Heard on WGIR – NH Today]
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Transcript
WGIR_2017-08-28_Impact-of-Technology-in-the-Wake-of-Hurricane-Harvey
Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it might contain errors.
Airing date: 08/28/2017
Impact of Technology in the Wake of Hurricane Harvey
Craig Peterson: With the unprecedented availability of technology and destruction to our modern technology in the path of the latest hurricane Harvey, I discussed with Jack this morning about what is happening, what you can do, how you can do it, and what to expect if we have a natural disaster at our homes.
Jack Heath: I want to bring in Craig Peterson for a few moments. He hosts Tech Talk on the weekends on the IHeart side of things on our stations for his Tech Talk show. But Craig, the mess down in Houston, Texas, the technology part of this. In some ways it’s probably helping. But when people lose their technology, it’s things like AM and FM radio. Things like this, you know, iHeart. You know you can get the word out. But tell us about the technology side that people may not be realizing as you look at the aftermath of hurricane Harvey.
Craig: Hey, good morning. Well there’s a few different things that people may not really think about. You mentioned those smart phones, those devices that we have and the iHeart Radio app, for instance, that I use all of the time. In much of this area you cannot use your mobile device because so much of the infrastructure has been completely knocked off-line. And that gets to be a serious problem. But you can use it right here if you want to help. The Red Cross is using your mobile device to be able to collect money that’s going directly to the people who were in the path of hurricane Harvey. Right now you can donate $10 to the Red Cross by pulling out your phone and texting right now to 90999. If you just text the word Red Cross to 90999, that’s Red Cross 90999, there’s a $10 donation that will be charged to your mobile phone bill and that money will go right away to them which is really great to help out because cash is what they need right now. We have a lot of people that have headed down there to help and that’s important too. Cell phone carriers are offering free calls right now and free data for customers who have been in the path of Harvey. So if they can get online. They can in fact use their mobile devices to listen to iHeart to get in touch with friends. And we also have a new feature that’s been put into Facebook here a couple of years ago, that allows you to be able to ask your friends and relatives if they were hurt if they are in the path. And so you can go to Facebook as well.
Jack: And of course, Craig, good old-fashioned CB citizen’s band radio times like this, right, when you have no cell service?
Craig: Yeah. Well you know, I have an advanced class amateur radio license as well. And so you can get on the air and that the best thing to do. Make sure you have a regular AM radio, FM radio, that’s battery-operated. Or even they have hand-cranked versions of those Jack. So you can get the news because for instance these stations were on this morning. They will be alive in the time of an emergency. But the cellular network could be down and that data network could be down as well. So you know, you can get on Facebook. They’ve got the safety check system online right now. There’s about 600 people that have posted requests for help on the page directly, looking for food, looking for rides, volunteers, for cleanup crews. That’s going to be partially coordinated on Facebook as well. So you can get on there. You can look yourself. You can see what you can do to help. This is unprecedented with the technology, with the ability to be able to coordinate, to be able to send money instantly to the Red Cross, another organization’s down there. So that’s all the good part of the technology that’s available. But so much of it really is down right now. And problem is it will be for some time. Jack these big transformers that we have for the power distribution system. Many of those transformers will take months to rebuild.
Jack: Right.
Craig: Because we don’t have them sitting on the shelves.
Jack: I can’t imagine the property damage and other stuff. Their homes. The insurance claims. It’s a mess. It’s water. I mean you’re talking 50 inches of water. Alright, Craig Peterson, I appreciate some of the tech thoughts on this. Dealing with what Houston is dealing with, unprecedented flooding really. You know, they’re calling it like, one official called it you know, the 800-year flood levels. Alright, thanks Craig on this Monday. Will catch you soon.
Craig: Take care. Thanks Jack.
Hey thanks for listening. Also make sure you rate my podcast. Go to http://CraigPeterson.com/iTunes. Let’s get those reviews up. And a lot of people who’d listen and I’d really appreciate it if you take a few minutes to add your comments as well. Http://CraigPeterson.com/iTunes. Have a great day.
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Thanks, everyone, for listening and sharing our podcasts. We’re really hitting it out of the park. This will be a great year!
Show Notes
Joining Jack Heath on NH Today, and discussed the importance of having technology in times of emergency such as Hurricane Harvey.
But, at the same time, when there is no internet service during calamities, you can always rely on your analog devices, including the AM/FM radio.
Stay safe everyone!
Find out more, only on CraigPeterson.com.
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Don’t miss any episode from Craig. Visit http://CraigPeterson.com/itunes Subscribe and give us a rating!
Thanks, everyone, for listening and sharing our podcasts. We’re really hitting it out of the park. This will be a great year!
