How to Check on Friends Affected by California Wildfires
As wildfires continue to ravage parts of California, checking out friends and family in the area is often challenging. Thousands of people have been displaced from their homes, and many of these evacuees find themselves in situations where they may have limited internet access or electricity for their phones so people know they are okay.
If you are currently trying to check on a friend or family member in the area and are having trouble, there are several places you can find information. If you’ve been hit by a fire, these are also good places to post information about your current situation so that those you care about can find it.
American Red Cross
The American Red Cross has the ability to register residents as “safe and healthy” on its website . When they do, these residents can also provide additional information, such as details of where they have evacuated or when they are waiting to be connected to receive phone calls.
This is a good first stop for those looking for friends and family members, as well as for those affected by the fire who want people to know that they are okay.
As with other natural disasters, on Facebook, users can mark themselves as safe during wildfires. If you are a Facebook friend of the person you are looking for, try on social media to see if your loved one has flagged themselves safe or posted any updates.
For those affected by fire, a safety label is always a good idea to help calm a friend and save you from answering a dozen text messages and phone calls. If you have information about where you are going to evacuate (or if you think you are evacuating at all), consider posting a status message on your wall for interested friends and family to read.
Like Facebook, Twitter is a great way for those affected by fire to let the people on their network know that they are okay. If you’re having trouble finding a friend or family member, controversial, follower actor James Woods also retweets tweets with the hashtag #CampFireJamesWoods with details of the missing.
When someone he tweeted about is found, the tweets are removed from their timeline.