Life without phones or the grid

Before

• Print the contacts, the check-in times, the rally points, and a map you already downloaded. A dead phone is not a directory.
• Pick a bell, a whistle, or a porch knock that means “check in” and another that means “come now.” Practice once.
• Name a runner, a person who can walk a note to the next house if radios fail. The note says where you are and whether you are staying. It does not list your stores.
• Put a wind-up or battery clock where everyone can see it. Check-ins need a shared time.
• Move schoolwork, medical lists, and deeds onto paper. The offline-library guide is the tablet copy. Paper is the copy that needs no battery.
• Plan morale for a long stretch: a shared meal, a book, a game, a worship habit if you have one. A household that only waits will fray.
• Licensed radio, if you have it, is the wide net. The family-communications guide is the license rule. Do not transmit without one.

During

• Check in at the clock time even when nothing happened. Silence should mean trouble, not forgetfulness.
• Use the runner before you go looking in the dark.
• Cook, pump, and charge on the sun or the fuel you already stored. The off-grid power guide is the concept. Do not invent a wiring job in the dark.
• News is the county radio and the out-of-area contact, not a forwarded rumor.

After

• When the grid returns, do not throw out the paper. Charge the phones and reconcile the two lists.
• Thank the people who carried notes. Fix the schedule that failed.

Checklist

• ☐Printed contacts, map, and check-in times
• ☐A signal that does not need a phone
• ☐A runner and a note format
• ☐A visible clock
• ☐Paper copies of records
• ☐A weekly shared meal or other morale plan

Sources

Official pages only. Open them for the full instructions.

• Ready.gov: Build a kit
• FCC: Amateur radio service
• FCC: General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS)
• Florida Division of Emergency Management: Family plan
• St. Johns County Emergency Management