While much of the east coast was preparing for Hurricane Irene last week and trying to determine where she would strike, Mother Nature threw us a curveball that rocked our Tuesday. Literally. A 5.8 magnitude earthquake may be nothing to those in California, but in the Washington, D.C., area this was a significant event. Thankfully, there was no catastrophic damage or loss of life as a result. However, the earthquake served as a not-so-gentle reminder that during disasters some things we routinely rely on may not be available.

Immediately after the earthquake, thousands of people picked up their cell phones and tried to call loved ones, but found they couldn’t. In a no-notice event like an earthquake, telephone lines are likely to be overwhelmed. Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint all reported heavy call volumes and cell service disruptions around the time of the earthquake.

After any disaster it’s natural to want to know our loved ones are safe. For most of us, the best, easiest, and fastest way to do this has been through phone calls. Most of us don’t think we won’t be able to make a phone call when we need to. However, the vast majority of us have phones that offer many communications options. Perhaps it’s time we start looking at these as our primary options. Following the earthquake, FEMA and other emergency management agencies were encouraging people to use text messages or social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to contact loved ones.

After the earthquake struck my wife and I texted that we were okay; I checked to see if my daughter’s school had sent out any alerts; and I tweeted to update friends and family. All of this was done before I knew any details of the earthquake. Because text and data messages take up less bandwidth than phone calls, they can be more reliable during a disaster. They also free up more bandwidth for those trying to make emergency calls.

Regardless of how you choose to communicate with family and friends after a disaster, it’s critical that you have a plan and everyone in your family knows what the plan is. For more information on developing a family emergency plan, including ideas on how to communicate after a disaster, visit www.ready.gov. The aftershocks may have slowed down and Irene may have passed, but who knows what’s around the corner.