Weather radio is must for safe-room kits

Ken Draper, health and safety coordinator for the Tulsa chapter of the American Red Cross, cranks up the Eton ARC FR360 American Red Cross Solarlink Self-Powered AM/FM NOAA Weather Radio. It can be powered four ways: its built-in dynamo/hand crank, which charges its nickel-metal-hydride battery, 3 AAA batteries, AC/USB adapter or its solar power cell that charges the same N-MH battery. Cost: $49. CORY YOUNG / Tulsa World

The radios also make a good addition to a safe-room survival kit.

Tulsa Area Emergency Management Agency interim Director Roger Jolliff said the radio is $30 to $50 and is available in most drug stores and appliance or home electronics stores. Having experienced the "Christmas 2007 great Tulsa ice storm," Jolliff knows what living in a dark, cold home without television is like. He wants "to see NOAA weather radio become as common as smoke detectors."

Here is some key information about weather radios:

NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards: This is "a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly from the nearest National Weather Service Office, most broadcasting over local towers with 40-mile ranges. The system carries official weather service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week," says the service website.

For the best performing NWR receivers, the service suggests you look at devices certified to "Public Alert standards."

All weather: Working with the Federal Communication Commission's Emergency Alert System, NWR is an "all hazards" radio network, making it the single source for comprehensive weather and emergency information. In conjunction with federal, state and local emergency managers and other public officials, NWR also broadcasts warning and post-event information for all types of hazards: earthquakes or avalanches and environmental catastrophes, including chemical releases and oil spills, and public safety messages such as AMBER alerts or 911 telephone outage information

SAME programming: "I encourage every home and business, every place where people gather, to have the NOAA Weather Radio with SAME programming (specific area message encoding)," Jolliff said. "This allows people to program their counties of residence into their radios so they hear warnings only for their county and not all the other county warnings.

Safe Room – What should you keep in it?

In 2002, Jodie Foster starred in the thriller “Panic Room”. The entire plot of the movie focused on Foster’s character and her daughter having to elude three burglars who had broken into their home. One of the home’s primary features was the “Panic Room”, a high-end safe room that featured two-way communication and other equipment. Foster and her daughter are trapped in the room for the first part of the movie, which leads to a climactic finale.

Though the panic room in the movie was fictional, these types of rooms are often installed in high-end homes. A “safe room” can be any room that has been reinforced to prevent unauthorized entry. The reasons for having a safe room may vary, though most people install them to provide a safe area in the event of a home invasion.

If you have a safe room in your home, it’s essential (as shown by the movie “Panic Room”) to keep it well-stocked with appropriate supplies. Here are a few quick tips about what you should be keeping in your safe room.

The first priority for your safe room should be some sort of two-way communication method. This may be a land-line phone, or a trac-phone that never leaves the room. In the event that you are using a cell phone for your communication method, make sure that it has a full battery, and that you are able to get a cellular signal from inside of your safe room. Some home security systems also have features which allow you to call the company directly from your safe room.

Your safe room should also contain essential items which you want to keep safe in the event of a burglary. Ideally, you should have a wall or floor safe installed inside of your safe room, which is used to hold your valuables. This ensures that even if you aren’t home (or the burglars are able to enter your safe room), your valuables will be difficult for them to steal.

Try to imagine that your family is trapped in the safe room while burglars occupy your house. What would you want to have with you? If you have small children, you may want to keep familiar items or games to keep them occupied. You may also want to keep  sanitation supplies, or a portable toilet (if there isn’t an attached bathroom). Try to have at least two alternate methods of communication to call for help.