SWAW--NOAA Weather Alert Radios

Weather Alert Radios, the Smoke Detector's for Tornado Alley

The National Weather Service disburses its most current forecasts, warnings, and watches through NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radio 24 hours a day, seven days a week. NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radio can alert listeners to dangerous weather situations in areas as large as states, or as small as specific counties within the listening area. Most importantly, specially equipped receivers are activated by tone alert, to warn you of hazards day and night.

Early warning of hazardous conditions is a critical component to every community's preparedness plan. Kansas City area emergency managers, working together as a group called the Metropolitan Emergency Managers Committee (MEMC) felt so strongly in this component that they partnered in 2002 with Price Chopper grocers, and Midland radio, to launch Project Community Alert (PCA for short). PCA has made NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radio receivers available for cost at metro area Price Chopper grocery stores.

In the program's first two years, close to 30,000 NOAA All-Hazards Weather Radio receivers have been sold in the Metro Kansas City area. PCA has also expanded into the Sedalia area, where around 6,000 receivers have been distributed. In late 2003, the MEMC made a decision to make PCA available to any jurisdiction across the United States that wanted the ability to make an at-cost NOAA Weather Radio purchase program available for their residents. The non-profit group, PCAUSA, Inc., was formed to help bring PCA nationwide in 2004.

Are you a local emergency manager or public safety official, and would like more information on bringing PCA to your community? You can find more information on the expanding PCA program by checking out preparemetrokc.org

NOAA Weather Radio receivers are also available in many other retail outlets, as well as on the Internet. The key to a good receiver is finding one equipped with S.A.M.E. technology, and one that has battery-backup capability.