Hold On To Retro Phones, Advises Civil Protection - Non-smart mobile phones and wired landline devices more secure in case of power outage

Non-smart mobile phones and wired landline devices more secure in case of power outage

Whereas the eruption around Bárðarbunga has so far been an effusive one, an explosive eruption remains possible. In case such an eruption takes place beneath the glacier itself, the greatest immediate threat would be potential floods.

The Civil Protection authority, a department of the Icelandic Police, has produced a report including response guidelines for several such scenarios, depending on different possible directions of the floods. In at least one of the scenarios, the floods might severely damage some of the country’s main power dams, causing extensive outages.

With that in mind, Civil Protection has, according to RÚV, advised people to hold on to vintage phone devices. Víðir Reynisson, department manager, has said that almost all institutes and households alike currently use wireless phones and other equipment which relies on electricity. In case of a power outage, older and simpler units would remain functional.

The same goes, says Víðir, for mobile phones: whereas the battery in most smartphones hardly lasts a day, non-smart varieties can be used for up to a week on one charge. Civil Protection thus advice people to keep their older devices at hand.