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I had never seen anything quite like it. Having lived in central Florida for years, hurricanes were common to me, but the worst I’ve ever experienced doesn’t come close to even a fraction of the destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Helen. did. But Florida is unlike 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 mountain communities.
I just flew home from a trip to San Francisco to attend Meta Connect 2024 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. I’ve been delayed by regular thunderstorms on countless trips before, but this time I was 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 better signal than any other phone in my extensive repertoire of review devices, to the joy of a Boox e-reader at night or the soft glow of a Nest Protect in the hallway. Even small comforts. At night, these few gadgets gave me a much-needed sense of connection and normalcy.
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 and more telephone poles were toppled. One of them was leaning menacingly towards the chicken coop, but luckily it didn’t actually fall over. It’s still leaning, so I hope Duke Energy comes and takes it back before things get worse.
After just a few hours of connection to the modern world, we lost all the amenities we were used to. 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.
The Motorola Razr Plus 2024 was the only phone out of dozens of phones that could reliably receive any kind of 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 to the top of the house where he lives just to receive some kind of welcome.
By noon, all cell phones had no reception, not even her phone. But without the Motorola Razr, most of our friends and family would know we were safe for 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. Additionally, we have some flashlights and reading lights that we use to light up the night as we walk around to fix the use of candles.
I have several e-readers at home, from a Kindle Oasis to several Onyx Boox readers, that come in very handy at night. The Onyx Boox Page is my personal favorite because it’s close to “Goldilocks” in size and weight. 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 the sun goes down without draining the batteries of your flashlight or other convenient light source.
Another device that comes in handy at night is the Nest Protect smoke alarm in the hallway. It is primarily a smoke and carbon dioxide alarm, but its best passive feature is that it acts as a hallway night light with a 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.
Last but not least is the awesome Honor MagicPad 2 that I’m typing this 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 lasted 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 its capacity huge, but it’s equivalent to about five cell phone batteries. Additionally, these chargers automatically select the best charging speed for any device you connect. This includes phones like the OnePlus 12, which uses an almost proprietary charging method, but this battery still charges the phone 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 Anker’s, but it’s designed specifically with gaming devices in mind, and it’ll give you a little more 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, all of the solar-powered ring lights around the house work independently without the need for help, so you can even walk around your garden at night, and to some extent until the power is eventually restored. safety can be ensured.
survival ability
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’ll be spending some time on Amazon looking for ideas, but I’ll definitely be ordering emergency supplies and camping gear during Prime Day on October 8th and 9th. We also welcome feedback from our readers. Do you have a favorite gadget for surviving camping trips or worst-case scenarios like this recent hurricane?
Anything that could make something like this even better is a gadget I’d be willing to spend money on. If you have water filters, camp stoves, portable fire pits, or anything else you think would make life easier during difficult times, I’d love to hear about it! Let me know by commenting 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.
