Wildfire Power Shutoffs Can Kill Your Cell Signal

The smartphone in your pocket is your best tool for staying connected in a wildfire evacuation, tornado, or other natural disaster.

But when wildfire risk is high, power can be cut to your entire area long before evacuations are ordered. This prevents cables from sparking new fires, but it can take down local cell towers. Even if some towers stay operational, the network could be too congested to place a call.

You need a plan for low-signal and no-signal situations, and you’ll need to make sure your devices are set up properly for emergencies. Add a backup power source to your evacuation kit, and you’ll be able to stay connected until you can get to safety.

How to prepare while you still have signal

If you live in an area that’s prone to disasters, you can take steps now that will help you stay safe—and connected—in case of a wildfire or other disaster.

Download offline maps

Save your region in Google Maps or Apple Maps while you still have signal, so you can navigate evacuation routes even when the network is down. Plan and practice a few exit routes in advance.

Enable alert apps and check wireless emergency settings

Install an app like Watch Duty (particularly strong in Western wildfire states) for real-time wildfire and evacuation updates sourced from local emergency crews, and confirm Wireless Emergency Alerts are switched on in your phone settings so official warnings reach you automatically. These push through even when you’re not actively checking your phone.

Your smartphone as a foundation

You can use your smartphone to get emergency alerts, send and receive text messages, and place calls. When you’re somewhere safe, you can also use your smartphone as a Wi-Fi hotspot to connect other devices like laptops or tablets.

Texting is better than calling

When towers are congested, a text will slip through where a call won’t. That’s because SMS needs just a sliver of bandwidth and keeps retrying in the background until it lands. Stick to plain SMS when the network is struggling—messaging apps like iMessage, WhatsApp, or Signal need a working data connection, and data won’t be prioritized if the network is busy.

How to check your mobile coverage

Before you turn to your phone in an emergency, find out whose signal is strongest in your location. Start with the carriers’ own maps (Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T), but take them with a grain of salt. For a straighter answer, enter your address into the National Broadband Map, managed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

How to check mobile signal strength on the FCC map

1. Navigate to the map and enter your exact address.
2. Scroll down or find the right side panel and select the Mobile Broadband tab.
3. Toggle to the In Vehicle Mobile view.
4. Compare provider networks.

The best possible rating is 35/3 in the 5G column. If none of your providers lists that figure, look for a 7/1 in the 5G column. That failing, look for a simple checkbox in the 4G LTE column.

I checked a random address in an Arizona mountain town, and saw that Verizon was the only decent option:

While you shouldn’t expect fast 5G in case of an outage, choosing a capable carrier now will give you the best chance of placing calls or sending texts in an emergency.

How to choose the right carrier

There are only a few big nationwide carriers (Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T), but you can use their networks by going through a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). Xfinity Mobile and Spectrum Mobile are Verizon MVNOs, while Optimum Mobile uses the T-Mobile network.

If you live or spend time somewhere remote, pick your carrier based on who covers that spot. If you don’t have a street address, you can search by longitude and latitude. The easiest way to find it is to drop a pin in Google Maps.

If staying in touch on your smartphone is essential, consider a backup SIM. Most phones from the last few years let you run two lines at once—a physical SIM plus an eSIM, or two eSIMs. That means you can add a second carrier as a backup, so if your main network goes dark in a disaster, you flip to the other one.

Unfortunately, this works only if your phone is carrier-unlocked, and it’s kinda technical. If you’re up for it, I recommend activating and testing that second line when you’re home and safe, with no wildfire or hurricane on the radar. You don’t want the hassle of activating an eSIM in the middle of an evacuation.

How to stay connected when towers are down

If mobile networks are down completely, get a dependable radio to stay up to date on emergency conditions and a satellite connection for when you need to reach out.

Invest in a NOAA radio

When the power’s out and your phone’s dead, a NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Weather Radio keeps working. It picks up official warnings and forecasts from the nearest office of the National Weather Service (NWS), nonstop. Buy a radio that’s battery-powered, solar-powered, or hand-cranked so it runs no matter what.

You can find your local station and frequency ahead of time using the NWS station search, or just spend a few minutes playing with the dial. It’s old-school tech, but it’s the most reliable way to hear what’s coming when everything else is down.

Regular AM radios will also broadcast emergency alerts (including the one in your car). You can find it by scanning through the dial or looking for highway advisory signs that give frequency info.

Built-in satellite SOS on newer iPhones/Pixels

If you’ve bought a phone in the last few years, you may already have a satellite lifeline in your pocket. Every iPhone 14 and newer has Emergency SOS via satellite built in, free for two years after activation, and Google’s Pixel 9 and 10 lineup (except the Pixel 9a) has its own Satellite SOS. When you try to reach 911 with no signal, the phone walks you through pointing at the sky and texting emergency services directly.

Ultra-reliable (but expensive) satellite internet

If you want real internet when the grid’s gone, the Starlink Mini is the gold standard. It’s a full satellite dish small enough to fit in a backpack, and it’ll give you working internet anywhere you have a clear view of the sky. It isn’t cheap, and it needs its own power source, but for anyone who has to stay reachable through a long outage, it’s hard to beat.

We break down the costs and setup process in our backup internet guide.

How to stay connected on a budget

Not everyone can drop hundreds on satellite gear, and the good news is you don’t have to. A charged power bank, your phone’s built-in satellite SOS, a cheap NOAA radio, and a solid text plan cover most of what you actually need in a disaster.

For the full rundown of low-cost options, see our guide to the Cheapest Ways To Stay Connected During a Natural Disaster.

My Take: Pack a tech bug-out bag now

I’ve seen wildfires tear through acres of pristine wilderness in minutes, and witnessed the aftermath of major floods and windstorms firsthand. Devastation is an understatement—there’s nothing quite like the ravages of Mother Nature to remind us how small we are. But whether you’re a one-man band or the master planner for a big family, doing a little prep work ahead of time can keep you safe—and sane—in the face of disaster.

Plan ahead for no-signal and low-signal situations, keep your phones charged and gas tanks at least half full, and put together a tech go bag now, before it becomes urgent. And just in case your phone itself is the problem, consider a weather-proof contact card so you don’t have to rely on your memory to reach the people you love.