Hunkering down waiting for the big storm? The last thing you want to be is unprepared or uninformed.  The American Red Cross adds texting, an iPhone app, and social media to its traditional readiness procedures.

With predictions for an above-average 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, the American Red Cross Mid-Florida Region (ARC) is adding technology to the many disaster plans that Central Floridians can tap into to prepare for a hurricane and cope with the aftermath.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts that 12-18 named storms, 6-10 hurricanes, and 3-6 major hurricanes will occur this year. The 2011 Atlantic hurricane season started June 1, and by now, families should have taken steps to create a family emergency plan. Orlando Family recommends taking your preparedness one step further by using ARC’s new technology and social media access to the most up-to-date disaster information during an emergency.

The Red Cross has developed a free iPhone app that gives the location of all open Red Cross shelters. The app not only maps the location of a shelter, but also shows its current capacity and population. To download the app, users can visit the Apple store and search “American Red Cross shelters.” For those without an iPhone, the same shelter information appears on the Red Cross website and can be accessed by visiting redcrossmidflorida.org from your smartphone or computer and clicking on “Find a Shelter.” Both are refreshed with updated information every 30 minutes.

“This is an ideal time to get a disaster supply kit ready, create an evacuation plan with your family, and get information on what to do during a hurricane,” says American Red Cross Mid-Florida Region’s CEO, Joel W. Hass. “It’s also the right time to learn how to locate a shelter. Using new technology is making it even easier to do that.”

The Red Cross Safe and Well website now allows users to update their Facebook and Twitter status when they register on the site. Safe and Well is a secure way to let your loved ones know what shelter you are going to during a hurricane evacuation, or that you are “safe and well” in the aftermath of a disaster. If users choose to do so, they can easily let their entire network of friends and family know they are safe using today’s versatile social media. The Mid-Florida Region started on Facebook and Twitter in the summer of 2009 and in that time has seen both grow to almost 1,500 users.

The Central Florida community is encouraged to connect with the Red Cross through social media. The Mid-Florida Red Cross Facebook page can be found at www.facebook.com/redcrossmidflorida. You can also find disaster information on Twitter@MidFlaRedCross. The Red Cross will post vital shelter and preparedness news before, during, and after a storm on both sites.

“The immediacy of social media is unmatched,” says Laureen Martinez, chief public relations officer of the Mid-Florida Region Red Cross. “Our studies show that social networks are among the top five media where people seek information about emergencies such as hurricanes, and that is something that simply can’t be ignored.”