I had never seen anything quite like it. As someone who has lived in central Florida for years, hurricanes are a common hardship, but the worst I’ve ever experienced was more than a fraction of the destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Helen. And Florida is different than the mountains of Asheville, which I have called home for the past decade. And no one in Florida was prepared for the impact Hurricane Helen would have on our mountain communities.
I just flew home from a trip to San Francisco for Meta Connect 2024 (where I tested the fancy Quest 3S) on one of the last flights out of Atlanta. It’s miraculous enough that we were able to get home before the worst of the storm hit, but it’s an absolute miracle that no planes flew at all. After countless trips delayed by regular thunderstorms, here we were, flying just north of a powerful Category 4 hurricane.
As I write this, we still don’t have electricity or running water, but some important technology has made life a little easier during this time of crisis. From the Motorola Razr Plus 2024, which had a signal better than any other phone in my extensive repertoire of review devices, to small devices like the joy of a Boox e-reader at night or the soft glow of a Nest Protect in the hallway. As far as comfort, these few gadgets have given me a sense of connection and normalcy that I desperately needed.
keep the line open
The disruption began around 4:45 a.m. on Friday, September 27, 2024, when the power outage first occurred. We woke up to the distinct sound of a tree falling, followed by a thud that shook the house. Once we realized it wasn’t a tree on our property, we had a few minutes of peace until more trees started falling, but we knew we would never be able to sleep again.
Dawn brought a new wave of terror as more telephone poles were toppled, one of them leaning menacingly towards the chicken coop. It’s still leaning as I write. I hope Duke Energy can resolve the situation before it gets worse.
After that, we were only connected to the modern world for a few hours, and all the amenities we were used to were gone. The power was already out, the water coming out of the faucet slowed down, and the phone remained connected. But my wife’s Motorola Razr Plus 2024 held up well as I struggled for several hours to get messages to loved ones, friends, and colleagues.
Motorola Razr Plus 2024 was the only phone out of dozens that received a consistent signal
Our neighbors asked if we had cell service, and I tried the many cell phones I had, but they were all the same as my neighbors’ iPhones and galaxies. Unable to send or receive messages. My wife was able to send a message to an elderly neighbor’s family to let them know they were okay, as well as make a few phone calls. One of them was addressed to my father, who lived deep in the mountains and actually lost his life. Climb just to get some kind of reception.
By noon, all cell phones had no reception, not even her phone. But without the Motorola Razr, few of our friends and family would have known how safe we were for those few days. Three days later, when phone reception started coming back, the Razr was the only phone in the house with anything close to a reliable connection. I know from years of review experience that Motorola phones often have the best signal strength among other manufacturers, but for the first time in this dire situation, this phone’s I started to really understand my strengths.
keep the fun going
Since we don’t have any electricity, we use electronic devices very sparingly, but it’s still nice to play a game of Minecraft with my son during short breaks during the day. I also have some flashlights and reading lights to light up the night while I walk around fixing my candle usage.
I have several e-readers at home, from a Kindle Oasis to several Onyx Boox readers, that I find extremely useful in the evenings. Onyx Boox Page is my personal favorite. Because the size and weight are close to “Goldilocks”. It’s not as small as the Palma, but it’s also not as big or heavy as the company’s tablets.
A safe, eye-friendly backlight means you can continue reading and entertaining after dark without draining your flashlight battery or other vital light sources.
Another device that comes in handy at night is the Nest Protect smoke alarm in the hallway. It’s primarily a smoke and CO2 alarm, but its best passive feature is that it acts as a hallway nightlight thanks to its backup battery. I’m not sure how long the battery will last considering I don’t have any other lights at the moment, but it’s great to have this.
Finally, there’s the amazing Honor MagicPad 2 that I’m currently typing on. I love what I do and consider writing for money to be a hobby, so I’m very relieved to be able to write without worrying about the battery. This tablet is very battery efficient and can last for several days without charging, despite regular use. It has a keyboard cover case and a magic pen, perfect for both productivity and entertainment.
Please charge
Obviously, all of this requires battery power, and the two devices allowed me to keep everything charged.
I have two Anker Prime batteries, each containing a massive 27,500mAh of reserve power. Not only is the capacity huge – equivalent to about 5 cell phone batteries, but these chargers automatically select the best charging speed for the connected device. This also includes phones like the OnePlus 12, which use an almost proprietary charging method. Anker Prime charges from zero to full in just over 30 minutes. This is the best Anker mobile battery I have.
The second is the handy Viture One dock for Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck. It’s a 10,000mAh bank, so it’s not quite as big as the Anker Prime, but it’s designed specifically with gaming devices in mind and will provide a little bit of fun during your downtime.
There’s also a bird feeder with a built-in smart home camera that charges with a solar panel mounted on the deck. While this charger is great at keeping your camera powered indefinitely, it doesn’t provide enough power to properly charge your phone or other more powerful devices.
On the bright side, the solar-powered ring lights around the house work independently, so you can still walk around the garden at night and have some level of safety until power is eventually restored.
survival power
After this devastating incident, I’ve been thinking a lot about other types of devices that could help me get through something similar again. Once this is all over, I’m going to spend some time on Amazon looking for ideas. Then order emergency and camping gear on Prime Day, October 8th and 9th. But we also want to hear from our readers. Do you have a favorite gadget for surviving camping trips or worst-case scenarios like this hurricane?
Anything that could make something like this even better is a gadget I’d be willing to spend money on. Whether it’s a water filter, camp stove, portable fire pit, or anything else you think will make life easier during difficult times, we want to hear about it. Let us know by leaving a comment below. If someone else has a disaster like I did, maybe we can help together.
It’s going to be a very long road to recovery from this, but any semblance of normality at the moment is worth fighting for.
