We were hit by Hurricane Michael: What You Need to Know About Tech When You Have No Technology

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We have been hit by Hurricane Michael. As of 6:39 pm tonight on Monday – just before sending publish, we do not have power at our house in Camilla although we had someone rebuild our water main and we got water last night. With no cellular service AT ALL in Camilla – sometimes we can receive incoming phone calls but Facebook and Twitter are both inaccessible. In order to post this, my husband is driving on the Interstate between Camilla and Albany until we could get service. It is so hard to believe that Verizon is unable to fix cellular service in Camilla but I do know that there are many places damaged.

Kip and I have made a list while it is on our mind of the things that you need to know to keep your family safe. These are the disaster preparedness things to teach our students as well. I hope it helps you to learn from what we've experienced. And again, forgive the chainsaws and background noise, my husband is too busy to clean up the audio right now.

When looking at national news media, it is unbelievable to me that what is happened has faded into a distant memory as we hear stories of people having ongoing problems and what is happening in Florida is even worse. Our home electricity can't be fixed because of the shortage of supplies electricians need to reconnect power to homes.

As of Sunday night, national media outlets were reporting only 120,000 households in Georgia without power. However, the EMC (Electric Membership Cooperatives) were saying that as of Sunday night they had 129K without power – that doesn't include municipalities and Georgia Power at all. I'm not sure where the National Media is getting their numbers, however, we have had previous disasters in South Georgia where the mainstream media underreported and basically ignored what was happening here. I think perhaps that is why there are so many resilient loners down here. There are many difficulties happening that I'm not sure people could fathom and many will be without power much longer.

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Related Resources

Dynamo Hand Crank Radio – we recommend this newer model that also charges with solar power and has a USB charger. (At $20 we actually just went and bought every one in our family one of these.)
LED 30 Day Light
My husband's favorite LED Flashlight that fits in your pocket
Camping Coffee Pot
Cast Iron Skillet
Cast Iron Dutch Oven
Silicone Gloves

I personally recommend Samaritan's Purse, Salvation Army, and Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief Organizations just because I've seen them active. While I can't speak for Florida, I have worked with many disasters in South Georgia in my lifetime. I recall one organization raising over $2million for the relief of my hometown of Camilla in the year 2000 and only spent $280K to help us and then left. Support organizations with low (or no) overhead (like these) and who will spend all of their money in the affected areas.

I also know of at least one school that was damaged and have reached out to them to see if they have a Gofund me.

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored post.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to edit and post it. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”)

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Vicki Davis

Vicki Davis is a full-time classroom teacher and IT Director in Georgia, USA. She is Mom of three, wife of one, and loves talking about the wise, transformational use of technology for teaching and doing good in the world. She hosts the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast which interviews teachers around the world about remarkable classroom practices to inspire and help teachers. Vicki focuses on what unites us -- a quest for truly remarkable life-changing teaching and learning. The goal of her work is to provide actionable, encouraging, relevant ideas for teachers that are grounded in the truth and shared with love. Vicki has been teaching since 2002 and blogging since 2005. Vicki has spoken around the world to inspire and help teachers reach their students. She is passionate about helping every child find purpose, passion, and meaning in life with a lifelong commitment to the joy and responsibility of learning. If you talk to Vicki for very long, she will encourage you to "Relate to Educate" or "innovate like a turtle" or to be "a remarkable teacher." She loves to talk to teachers who love their students and are trying to do their best. Twitter is her favorite place to share and she loves to make homemade sourdough bread and cinnamon rolls and enjoys running half marathons with her sisters. You can usually find her laughing with her students or digging into a book.

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1 comment

ALICE LACOSTE October 16, 2018 - 8:42 am

I listened to your Hurricane Michael podcast on my way to school this morning as I normally do. My family experienced Hurricane Katrina in 2005. We live in Southwest Mississippi, and although we did not experience the devastation of the Gulf Coast and New Orleans, we were without power for ten days. Fortunately, we did have water the entire time (I have since found I can make it without power, but water is a different story.) It, too, was a learning experience. Our generator which we bought two days after Katrina is still working, we keep charcoal, propane, and batteries on hand. We always have bottled water for drinking and totes of rainwater for toilets. Take care of yourself. I’ll be praying for everyone.