Who would have thought. Text message that saves lives? Perhaps text messaging is not all that bad after all?

SHANGHAI — With Typhoon Kaemi roaring toward Jinjiang in China’s crowded southeast, Dr. Yang was sealing his apartment windows against the pounding rain when his cellphone buzzed to life.

“Typhoon forecast to make land this evening near Jinjiang,” said the message, which was sent to millions of mobile phones in the coastal city and surrounding Fujian province. “Please attend to preparations.”

More often used by gossipy teenagers, mobile phone messages have become a key tool for Chinese authorities who need to alert-millions of villagers and fishermen during this year’s unusually powerful typhoon season.

Mobile phones are so common in China that almost one in three of its 1.3 billion people has one, making them a rival power to television and radio in reaching the public…. Source: globeandmail