A Digital Emergency Kit for
Monsoon Power Cuts
Hours-long power cuts and overloaded towers turn a fully charged phone into a countdown timer during a heavy spell. A short checklist to sort out before the rain starts, not during it.
July 2026 · 5 min read
Charge Everything Before the Forecast Turns Heavy
A power bank sitting uncharged in a drawer is useless the moment it's actually needed. Once a heavy-rain warning is out, top off every phone, every power bank, and — if there's one in the house — a lantern or torch. Keeping this as a habit at the start of monsoon season rather than a scramble mid-outage is the single biggest difference between a calm evening and a stressful one.
Know What Raksha Can and Can't Tell You Without Power
Once a phone dies, its location freezes at the last point it had battery and signal — there's no way around that physically, and it's worth knowing in advance rather than discovering it mid-flood. See the flooding safety guide below for the full picture of how location sharing behaves during monsoon disruption, including patchy tower coverage even on phones that still have charge.
Write Down Numbers That Don't Depend on an App
If towers get overloaded, data-based apps (including Raksha) can lag or stop updating even on a phone with battery left, while basic calls and SMS sometimes still get through on a weaker signal. Keep a couple of key family numbers written down somewhere physical — not just saved in a phone that might die — along with the nearest hospital and the local emergency helpline. See the guide on emergency helpline numbers below.
Agree on a Low-Tech Fallback Plan With the Family
Before the season starts, agree on something simple: "if you haven't heard from me by evening and the power's out in your area too, don't panic — check in again once it's back." A five-minute conversation removes a lot of the anxiety a silent phone causes during a bad power cut, and it costs nothing to set up.