Hurricane Harvey took Texas by a surprise and even after days we are still reeling from the shock! The aftermath wasn’t even over before Hurricane Irma decided to grip Florida and the southeast states. Such time us natural calamities make us wonder about how every day, slowly but steadily, we are depleting our own resources and infuriating Mother Nature. But no we are not talking about the climate change and our responsibility here; on the contrary we are talking about a particular kind of technology that actually turned out to be a boon during this time.

source: Force Thirteen

Zello, a walkie- talkie app, uses any network or wifi to help people stay connected. After its use during such times it has become the No.1 free application on both iTunes and Google play store. After seeing the devastation of hurricane Harvey, people have braced themselves for hurricane Irma and this app has made its way into a lot of homes, or phones. The rescuers who were on a mission to save people from the disaster of hurricane Harvey used this application and that’s how it’s popularity rose.

Photo credit: Sean MacEntee

The Chief Executive from Zello reported that almost 120 people were seen registering, every second and it has been since trending on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The sudden increase in the number of registrations and the concentration of people registering shows that all affected areas and the areas that have been warned about being in the Hurricane Irma path show maximum users. The sudden rise in the number of registrations did lead to some performance issues but Zello was quick enough to resolve the matter and aid its users.

Apart from Zello, the Hurricane Tracker app and the NOAA’s radar app have also seen a sudden increase in users. It’s amazing how a boon in business can actually be because of such a disaster. But then again, the purpose of technology is to make our life better, comfortable and secure! The Zello app may have been a blessing for many and we sincerely hope that while no one has to face nature’s fury those who do are able to connect and contact for help. There are many applications that have made everything a click away, it’s great to know that now safety and help is also a click away! Zello has truly been impressive!

*Feature photo credit: mattbdiehl

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