Social media in its various forms is here to stay. While some may resist its power, there is no denying that in certain situations it may be your link to the outside world.

A few years ago it was primarily students and young people who signed up to social networking sites, to communicate with friends and colleagues, share photos, ideas and opinions. Today social media is very much a part of everyday life, for people of all ages, the world over.

The revolutions in the Arab world clearly illustrated how influential social media can be: it is said that the protests were organised on Facebook, coordinated on Twitter and broadcast to the world on YouTube.

The power of social media lies in its accessibility, lack of censorship and the speed at which messages can reach a wide audience: anyone can sign up to the various networks and they can increasingly log into them from anywhere, via mobile devices.

When it comes to storms and hurricanes, social media can also play and important and useful role, enabling people to stay in touch with the rest of the world, even when other lines of communication are down.

Once the power supply is shut off during a storm, it can feel isolating. For those that do not have generators, it is no longer possible to watch the news or weather channel to monitor the progress of a storm; fixed line phones will only work if the handset does not require power; laptop batteries will not last more than a few hours and without power, wireless routers and modems will not work.

Mobile networks are likely to be the most resilient under storm conditions and with the proliferation of smart phones and wireless mobile devices, these are likely to become the principal means of staying in touch and checking on the progress of a storm.

Not only can people still browse the Internet from their mobile devices, they can communicate with friends and family through sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Because individuals can post directly to these sites, it is likely that developments will be transmitted faster via social media than traditional media. Friends on neighbouring islands, for example, can let you know when they begin to feel the effects of a storm, or when it has passed. Photos can be taken and uploaded to the Internet from a single device, reaching an international audience far quicker than traditional news reports can.

In the aftermath of a storm, social media can potentially be the quickest and most efficient means of letting others know your status. In the event of a particularly severe storm, if airports and sea ports are damaged, effectively cutting islands off, social media can be used to convey images and messages to the outside world.

It may therefore be wise to invest in a spare battery for your phone or mobile device.

Monitoring hurricanes

There are several websites available to track the movement of tropical weather systems and predict the course they will take. Some sites are updated more frequently than others and some use just one hurricane model to predict the future track of a storm; while others combine data from all available models. Below are some of the most reliable websites for monitoring weather systems during hurricane season:

• caycompass.com/weather
• caymanprepared.ky
• nhc.noaa.gov
• wunderground.com/tropical
• stormpulse.com
• ibiseye.com
• tropicalwx.com
• stormcarib.com