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FEMA - Radio (recommended)

kfbkfb said:
The go bag should also include items such as a battery-powered or hand-crank radio...
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With everyone so reliant on their smartphones, very few people under the age of 55 would even care about things like 'go-bags' and emergency radios. As we've seen in the Dallas area last year, most are charging their phones at night from a vehicle.
 
I'm 27 and I got a weather radio. Not many my age could or will say that.
 
This is the only “radio” in my household (excluding the one in my car). It includes a flashlight, solar panel, hand crank, and USB charging for my cell phone.

I can receive AM stations from several hundred miles away at night. It’s not the same level of DX that a C. Crane or Sangean would provide but it’s decent. It also has shortwave but I have never been able to receive any station on that band.

Hopefully, this will serve me well during an emergency.
 
kfbkfb said:
(maybe some PSAs - TV, Facebook and other social media - about having a radio during severe weather)
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From what I've seen, that's not how FEMA or DHS works. They don't do preventative relations. They are more of a reactive group. A disaster strikes, and they react. They start from scratch, do their established patterns, and then move on. Very different from NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.) They spend millions on radio & TV spots, especially this week, warning people not to drink & drive. But that doesn't happen with DHS.

Every since the Homeland Security Act was passed 20 years ago, traditional media has been left out of the game plan. They don't encourage people to use traditional media. They want you to use services that only receive their direct messages, and those tend to be using cell phone alerts. I've lived in areas that are prone to tornadoes, and my phone blew up with text messages any time a storm was coming near.
 
TheBigA said:
Every since the Homeland Security Act was passed 20 years ago, traditional media has been left out of the game plan. They don't encourage people to use traditional media. They want you to use services that only receive their direct messages, and those tend to be using cell phone alerts.
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Great point. The purpose is to reach as many of the local public as possible. Those same people have smartphones, not portable radios.
 
Kelly A said:
Great point. The purpose is to reach as many of the local public as possible. Those same people have smartphones, not portable radios.
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The key thing is just having a radio doesn't guarantee you'll get the right information from FEMA. But if FEMA sends out an alert directly to your phone, that guarantees the recipient gets the correct information.

As we know, not all stations will provide emergency information. Usually only a handful of stations do that.
 
Just about everyone around here has a radio, and they depend on it. .rather than the EAS or TV stations or apps or websites.;)
 
Kelly A said:
Sure, but the only data plan you can get is 2G...
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WHAT data plan? Mobile broadband doesnt work up here!

We monitor EAS off the satellite here.. but its more or less totally pointless
 
Kelly A said:
So, in other words, you're screwed either way?
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Not really.... ive been on air at 11pm one night and 6am the next day when the town flooded at break up, when the river started flowing again. Clinic staff, city staff, our state trooper... our vice mayor.......ALL have my cell and know to call me at any hour to get an emergency covered on air.. and theyve used that option a few times.
 
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