Consider a potentially life-saving present, a NOAA Weather Radio . Most of these receivers are capable of sounding an alarm whenever NOAA's National Weather Service issues a local severe weather or flood alert or other hazard warning. Gen. Jack Kelly , director of the National Weather Service. When you may only have minutes to react, NOAA Weather Radio gives you confidence to take the appropriate action when severe weather or other hazards are at hand. NOAA Weather Radio receivers are sold at many electronic stores and discount stores, through catalogs and over the Internet.
Receivers come in many sizes and with a variety of functions and costs.
Pocket radios can be used for outdoor activities or carried on family trips. Most NOAA Weather Radio receivers will sound an alarm when a hazard alert is issued, even if the receiver is not playing. Some NOAA Weather Radio receivers have a special feature called Specific Area Message Encoding, or SAME . All official watches and warnings broadcast by the NWS are preceded by unique digital audio codes that describe the type of warning and identify the county or counties being warned. For the deaf and hearing impaired, some SAME-capable receivers provide limited text information describing the type of warning issued.