PSA in light of the Texas flooding tragedy: You NEED a weather radio!

[NotUrsula]

This is a timely reminder that weather warnings sent via phone will not reach you if you do not have service, and/or if you have not exempted them from your phone's DND settings if they come in the middle of the night.

Go for the safest option: buy a waterproof weather radio, or more than one. They work when the phone system doesn't, they are always loud enough to wake you up, and if you get one with solar charging, you can also use it as a backup phone charger and flashlight. There are plenty of models available at very reasonable prices, so I'd argue that you really cannot afford NOT to own one. (And keep it charged and on anytime there is any kind of weather in the area.)

Tomorrow happens to be Prime Day, so if you're shopping anyway, add one to your order.

Also, gift them to your children when they move away from home.

 

[EACarlson]

https://etoncorp.com/products/quest-hand-crank-am-fm-radio-with-solar-power-bluetooth-connection
Is the one I keep charged in my mud room to go along with my cheapie plug in only one in my dining room. This one also comes along camping with me.

 

[NotUrsula]

https://etoncorp.com/products/quest-hand-crank-am-fm-radio-with-solar-power-bluetooth-connection
Is the one I keep charged in my mud room to go along with my cheapie plug in only one in my dining room. This one also comes along camping with me.

That's a very nice one, but a bit pricey just for emergency use. (Makes sense to invest if you camp regularly, I agree.)

We have these, which are $34 each from Amazon at the moment, and are well-rated for emergency use. https://www.amazon.com/Emergency-Cr...HRCNRFB/dp/B0CHRCNRFB/ref=dp_ob_title_ce?th=1

A really nice one is great if you want that, but I wanted folks who would only use them in emergencies to know that there are more affordable options available.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

Yes! Our local emergency management office actually gives them away to residents at no charge. Just a cheaper Midland one. I didn't like it because it was constantly going off; severe thunderstorm watch, tornado watch, etc. While I know those are important I purchased my own. It is from Reecom and you could have only certain alerts do an audible notification. It will always flash no matter what sort of alert. But now I just get the alerts that are most important to me.

 

[tvguy]

An important lesson in a time when people depend on cell phones and Internet for communications, these "new technologies" often are useless in an emergency. And "old technology" like Weather Alert Radios and AM radio with the Emergency Alert System are much more reliable.
In Texas, the camp where so many children were swept away was apparently in an area with no cell service or internet. But Weather Alert Radio signals and good old fashioned AM radio signals would have reached the area without issue.
This is the lesson we have learned her in California with wildfires, where cell towers and wireless internet towers were destroyed by fire. In Santa Rosa after the wildfire in 2017, the only communications system not damaged by fire was the landline phone system because all the wires were buried and not burned, and phone companies have redundancy for power.
And this is why some auto makers are being blasted for installing standard radios in cars without the AM band. That is a huge safety issue in an emergency.