Make phone your best friend in a hurricane

Your smartphone can be your best friend in a hurricane.

With the right websites and apps, you can turn it into a powerful tool for guiding you through a storm’s approach, arrival and aftermath. First, of course, make sure your phone is fully charged as a storm approaches. Consider buying a portable charger to provide power during an outage.

For the latest hurricane news, with maps, analysis and tips, go to sun-sentinel.com/news/weather/ hurricane/. And you may want to consider these as well.

PREPARING FOR A STORM:

Florida Division of Emergency Management:

floridadisaster.org/getaplan. This site guides you through the process of making a hurricane plan.

Hurricane by American Red Cross:

An app that’s a good all-around site for preparing for the storm, getting through it and dealing with the aftermath. Another good all-around app is Hurricane Tracker, which contains forecasts, safety information and other features.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency:

app at fema.gov/ mobile-app and web page at ready.com. Offers storm preparation tips, shelter maps and maps of disaster recovery centers.

EVACUATIONS: Find an evacuation route:

Go to FL511.com or the FL511 app. If you’re evacuating, these sites provide a guide to road and bridge closures, toll suspensions and evacuation routes. You can also go to them after the storm to check road conditions and road closures.

Go to floridaevacuates.com. Enter your location to find the nearest open shelter. You can also download their app.

Find local shelters: FORECASTS National Hurricane Center:

nhc.noaa.gov This site offers the latest on a storm’s path, with maps, satellite imagery and details on threats from wind and storm surge.

National Service: Weather

mobile.weather.gov. If a hurricane is approaching, this offers the most specific local information about the storm’s possible impact on South Florida.

The Weather Channel:

weather.com. Download their user-friendly apps with interactive radar, realtime alerts and other features.

Weather Underground:

wunderground.com. Lots of graphics and analysis. Download the app Storm by Weather Underground for animated radar, hourly forecasts and other features. Other good sites for hardcore weather junkies are NOAA SuperRes Radar US and NOAA RadarUS.

LOCAL HURRICANE INFORMATION

Is you neighborhood going to be evacuated? Where are the shelters? Any alerts in your area? What’s open and what’s closed? Here are places to look. Also be sure to connect to each organization’s Facebook and Twitter page, which are linked on their web sites.

Broward County:

broward.org/hurricane

Miami-Dade County:

miamidade.gov/hurricane

Palm Beach County:

discover.pbcgov.org/publicsafety/dem/Pages/default.aspx. Also download Palm Beach County Emergency Management’s app PBC DART.

POWER OUTAGES

Report outages at fpl.com/outage or call 800-4-OUTAGE. To check power outages in your neighborhood, go to fplmaps.com, where you can find the total outages in your area, the cause and estimates for when power will be restored.

FIRST AID FOR PEOPLE AND PETS

Two Red Cross apps give advice on first aid for people and pets. Find them here: redcross.org/get-help/prepare-for-emergencies/ mobile-apps