What are the most effective ways to stay informed during a crisis?

Information overload can multiply the stress that you are already in. Sometimes it is important to shut down all these incoming sources, and relax for a bit. Our natural tendency is to find out as much as possible, but that also leads to too many distractions and confusion. Stay calm. Don't look for too much information. Rely on your gut and only trust what you think makes sense. Reject everything else.

Again, don't overwhelm yourself. Find out all possible channels, but stick to a few of them which you trust. Reject all other channels from where you are getting only junk or misinformation. For instance, internet might NOT be working in a particular situation, or is not always available. Switch to radio or print media in that case. Or look for information provided by govt agencies. Don't trust rumours and gossips. Even in the channels that you are following, don't trust everything. Keep discarding misinformation or garbage data, and only focus your time and energy on trustworthy sources.

Gossip-mongers, anti-social elements, and rumour-spreaders look for such situations to trouble people in distress. Stay away from such people, and try to assess the credibility of the information.

First of all, try to stay calm. It may be difficult but thinking with a clear mind helps a lot in uncertain or turbulent times. Make sure you validate the information and as long as there is uncertainty (as this is easier said than done), don't spread the word with extra information or from an emotional viewpoint, as this effects other people...

If you do have questions it is a good idea to ask authorities in a forum or somewhere publicly, that way if someone else has the same question they can see the answer without having to privately ask the same thing. That can also add to it if there is any missed information so others can be aware.

There might be drastic change to the information that you already had. Since the situation is critical and chaotic, there can be many moving parts leading to drastic changes. Do not panic, update and adjust your understanding of the situation. Then process the new set of data. The older data might not be relevant in the new situation, but still keep referring to it so that you can correlate and refer the historical data For instance, there might be an emergency situation in your city, like riots. Earlier you might know that it has impacted certain areas and it is spreading. Don't panic. Assess the situation, keep getting updates on the areas impacted, and in which direction it is going. Review the situation frequently

Very very important! If you think that something disturbes you to that extreme of panicking, you need to take a step back and really calm down. Get these inner peace moments and get back to your core and whenever calmed down and be in your presense of yourself and positive rational thoughts, you can get back in the 'environment'.

Follow reputable sources. This includes government agencies, emergency management organizations, and news outlets that have a track record of reporting accurate and timely information. Some examples include the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Associated Press. Monitor multiple sources of information. Don't rely on just one source of information, as it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Be aware of misinformation. During a crisis, there is often a lot of misinformation circulating. This can include rumors, hoaxes, and conspiracy theories. Use social media wisely. Social media can be a great way to get information and updates during a crisis.