Recently, on a state park Facebook group, there was a discussion of NOAA weather radios. Many people use their cell phones to receive weather warnings. But if you’re camped at a state park, it’s quite possible that you don’t have any internet or cellular service. So a weather radio is an important item to pack.  Unlike internet or cellular signals, the NOAA weather radio blankets the nation (as well as the corresponding services in Canada and Mexico).  Unless you live in an extremely remote part of the country, you will be able to pick up a weather radio signal.  To view a coverage map for your state, follow this link.)  These stations broadcast weather information constantly, and during severe weather, they transmit an alert that will activate an alarm in receivers.  For more information, you can view our earlier post.

One deaf person was part of the conversation, and he pointed out (incorrectly) that a radio wouldn’t do him much good. I corrected him, because a NOAA weather radio is very useful, even for someone who cannot hear, because weather warnings are available other than by audible means. If you have internet access, you will probably get more complete information from an internet source. But in areas with no internet access, or just as important, if the internet goes down because of the storm, then your phone won’t do you any good. In these situations, having a weather radio can be a lifesaver, and this is also true for deaf persons.

The voice on a weather radio gives more information, but during severe weather, the radio will tell you, by text display, that there is a warning, such as a tornado warning, for your county. While the additional audio information is nice, it’s not really necessary. If you know that there is a tornado warning for your county, then you know to take shelter.

Even if you do have internet access, having a weather radio is still a good idea, because it will alert you to watches and warnings, and upon seeing a warning, you can check the internet for specific details.

For a deaf person, you really need a weather radio with SAME encoding. This type of radio is programmable for your particular county, and an alarm will sound if there is a warning for your county. The text display will indicate what kind of warning it is, such as TORNADO, SEVERE THUNDERSTORM, FLASH FLOOD, etc. Most weather radios have an audible alarm that sounds during a warning. A deaf person will need one with a visual indication, such as a strobe light.

While other radios might have these same features, the Midland model WR120B/WR120EZ has these features (with the additional external strobe light).  For a deaf person to be alerted, you will also need to buy a strobe light and/or pillow shaker.

The weather radio includes an AC adapter, but it’s a good idea to keep batteries in the radio at all times, since power often goes out during bad weather. You will need 3 AA batteries for the radio, and the strobe light and pillow shaker each require two AA batteries.

The radio, the strobe, the pillow shaker, and the batteries, are all available at Amazon:

If you want to use both the strobe and the pillow shaker, you will also need an adapter cable such as the one shown below, so that you can plug both of them into the radio. (You do not need a stereo cable, but this stereo cable will work.)

If you are planning on using both, you can buy the strobe, the pillow shaker, and the adapter cable as one package deal:

You can read more information from NOAA about weather radios and the deaf at this link.

The video below, from NOAA, explains in American Sign Language how to program the WR120EZ weather radio.

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