When I think back on my elementary school days, I can still remember lining the hallways for tornado drills, crouching down against the wall with my hands tight around my head. I had watched The Wizard of Oz one too many times and I wasn’t going anywhere (even if there was a yellow brick road). We even had to put our bomb threat plan into action once; luckily that was a false alarm.

But sometimes we had to test our skills in real-life severe weather situations. I never knew how my teachers could tell the difference between a drill and real severe weather – I probably thought they were magic…I was very creative – but now I think I have it figured out. Besides the greenish skies and roaring noise, my school was using an emergency radio with NOAA Weather alerts.

NOAA Weather Radio is the prime alerting and critical information delivery system of the National Weather Service (NWS). NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts warnings, watches, forecasts, and other hazards information 24 hours a day over more than 650 stations in the 50 states, adjacent coastal waters, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Pacific territories. Heck, with that much information, I bet my teachers kept a lot of people safe;)

Not only are these radios great for emergency preparedness, they’re critical after a disaster hits in helping the school react faster. When disaster strikes, schools often become safe havens for everyone in a community. Emergency radios help these places of refuge stay in touch with the outside world when phone lines are down.

For a $70 gift, you can provide 2 Emergency Radios to a school in need.

 

The radio itself also makes a great gift for teachers, or anyone really! Emergency Radios are a great addition to any home and should be included in your family emergency preparedness kit. You can buy one from redcrossstore.org.

 

Help schools stay out of Oz by shopping the Holiday Giving Catalog today. Happy Holidays!

Lindsey