Emergency App Enhanced to Help You Be Ready Should a Crisis Occur

The American Red Cross has enhanced its free “Emergency” app to help you be better prepared.

A new wildfire enhancement enables you to see your local wildfire risk and create a personalized wildfire plan. This is critical because the climate crisis is causing more extreme weather events, increasing our risk for wildfires. Where previously most wildfires occurred in the summer and fall, experts say extended warm and dry conditions now raise our wildfire risk year-round. And more people now live in more affordable urban fringes closer to nature ─ an estimated one-third of all homes in the U.S. are in areas where wildfires pose a real risk.

WHY DO I NEED “EMERGENCY”? The easy-to-use app lets you customize 40 different weather alerts with fast notifications. It provides step-by-step guides to help you prepare and explains how climate change has impacted each hazard.

You can find open Red Cross shelters with an interactive map. You can use the app in English or Spanish with an easy-to-find language toggle and get full weather alerts in both Spanish and English.

Originally launched in 2015, “Emergency” is accessible for people with disabilities. These include landscape and portrait viewing formats, focus order for screen reading, and alternative text capabilities to provide word descriptions of images.

THE EMERGENCY APP also features:

• Preloaded content so users can access guidance from Red Cross experts even without mobile connectivity
• Detailed home fire prevention and safety tips as well as recover information if the worst happens
• Planning feature to help families prepare for what to do and where to go if a disaster strikes
• An “I’m Safe” feature that helps people connect with loved ones
   

To make sure you’re ready for the unexpected, download the free Red Cross “Emergency” app today. Search “American Red Cross” in app stores or go to redcross.org/apps.