911

As Hurricane Milton advances, emergency preparedness is crucial. If 911 calls fail to connect, satellite emergency text services will be available for Google Pixel 9 and iPhone models 14 and up.

The service has so far helped 33 people this month.

Outages have hit at least eight states this year. They’re emblematic of problems plaguing emergency response communications due in part to wide disparities in capabilities and funding.

Florida is among 32 states that don’t treat 911 dispatchers as first responders. Recent efforts in the state Legislature to change that have not advanced.