Why Should I Buy a Weather Radio?
We get questions all the time about NOAA Weather Radios, and if you should really get one, the short and simple answer is YES, get one! NOAA Weather Radios are a lifesaver, especially when severe weather hits when you least expect it to, and in the middle of the night when you are sleeping. NOAA Weather Radios continuously broadcast updated weather information across a nationwide network of radio stations that come directly from the nearest National Weather Service office. National Weather Service offices around the country suggest that people buy radios that look like the one in the picture below.
Weather radios aren’t just for tornadoes, but they will sound off for severe storms, flash floods, wildfires, hurricanes, and even blizzards and civil emergency messages. The alarm will sound off any day of the week, and at any hour of the day. The alert sound is meant to be loud enough to hear when you are sleeping at night so that it wakes you, and so you can hear it from a neighboring room if you are out of the room that the radio is set in. We recommend that people have a radio for their bedrooms, and at least one more to keep in the kitchen or living room, or where ever people in the house spend most of their time.
Weather radios can be purchased at nearly any store these days. This maybe your local grocery stores, Hy-Vee, Walgreen’s, Best Buy, Walmart, along with many other stores. The price of these radios usually runs around $30, a low price to pay for something that saves many lives every year. If you have trouble programming your radio, your local forecast office, news stations, police stations, and fire stations can help you program these for you. The radios can be programmed for just your county, or for the counties surrounding you including yours.
After reading this, we hope you all will go out and buy a weather radio if you don’t already have one. Make sure you buy extra batteries for your radio just in case the power goes out, you will still be able to get alerts this way.