  Mass emergencies increasingly pose significant threats to human life, with a
disproportionate burden being incurred by older adults. Research has explored
how mobile technology can mitigate the effects of mass emergencies. However,
less work has examined how mobile technologies support older adults during
emergencies, considering their unique needs. To address this research gap, we
interviewed 16 older adults who had recent experience with an emergency
evacuation to understand the perceived value of using mobile technology during
emergencies. We found that there was a lack of awareness and engagement with
existing crisis apps. Our findings characterize the ways in which our
participants did and did not feel crisis informatics tools address human
values, including basic needs and esteem needs. We contribute an understanding
of how older adults used mobile technology during emergencies and their
perspectives on how well such tools address human values.
