It’s the awareness and preparedness for Severe Weather, even as winter wanes, there is more out there!

So we have gotten through most of the winter but that ol man is still out there, waiting to bite you if you are not careful. Now we move along in the year and into tornado and hurricane season.

Depending on where you live, this either brings on a yawn or your eyes widen and your ears perk up. Here in the Hi-Desert of Nevada, we look at Earthquakes and the cold winter snows and wind more than anything else. In the Midwest and south, you watch the skies for trouble!

In all disasters, there are key items that are common to all and need to be in place. Communication in my opinion, is key to all. If you don’t know what is going on, you cannot react and get to safety or bunker down where you are. IF you are watching the news when the spaghetti hits the fan blade, you will have the information you need or at least be aware.

But you need to have a radio that automatically alerts you by region as to the problem. This is where NOAA comes into play along with FEMA. The FCC has given 7 channels to public weather, managed by NOAA. They have taken these frequencies and broadcast continuous weather 7/24 from the closest station to your location. Here is a link to their site NOAA.

We endorse 3 radios on our Gear Shack page. Two are made by ETON and get many frequencies both AM and FM along with specifically, the NOAA weather channels. The third radio is the Midland WR-120ez. At under 30 bucks this radio does a lot and every house should have one. Using SAME, Specific Area Message Encoding, it looks at what the alerts are close to you and activates your alert on the radio. If the SHTF in the middle of the night, this puppy will wake you up to take action or pet the dog and climb back in the rack.

Along with getting the information is two way communication with your family or group and then for the outside world. MGRS radios are great for around the house or property. We use them here on the Hi Desert Hacienda everyday. If I go out to work in the orchard, I take a radio and turn the other one on and set it on the kitchen counter. This allows me to yell back to the house and the house knows that I am out on the property. I have just become a HAM radio operator. Even getting your Tech license and getting some simple VHF-UHF comms, is a great way to communicate with others outside the area.

Now along with the communications, make sure you go through your BOB and Car Bags complete and ready to go. If you have batteries in those bags, change em out. I calendar both daylight savings days, so that in March and November each year, I do certain tasks. Those include smoke detector batteries, bug out bag renewable contents, fuel storage rotation among others. You need to set this up for yourself so that these tasks get completed.

So take a look this week and see where you are at. Do you have the radio, it’s basic folks so like Larry says; Git Er Done!!!