Preparedness Tools

4/29/2021 (Permalink)

One of the easiest ways to protect yourself, your family or your employees is by having a weather radio in your home or office. Did you know having a NOAA Weather Radio in your home is just as important as having a fire alarm?

A weather radio is the most reliable source for weather alerts. It is designed to alert you to dangerous weather situations such as an approaching tornado, allowing you to be warned ahead of approaching storms providing time to seek shelter. In 2012, a new nationwide text emergency alert system was launched, called Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). The WEA system is a huge step toward keeping our nation informed in crisis situations, however it does not alleviate the need to own weather radios. The new WEA system relies on cell towers to send alerts—if cell towers are knocked out during bad weather or are no longer sending a signal, you will not receive alerts. Television and radio broadcasts can also go down during a destructive event. Having a back up such as a weather radio is critical to ensure you still receive information in the event media outlets can no longer broadcast or you are unable to receive the broadcast.

When selecting a weather radio, ensure it includes SAME alert programming—sounds an alert only when specific counties are threatened (allowing you to only receive alerts for your county) and reviewable alerts (allowing you to turn off alerts you do not want to hear).

Contact your local National Weather Service Office for assistance programming your weather radio, or for additional information, including county codes for your state, visit the NOAA Weather Radio website at https://www.noaa.gov/weather