U.S. Aiming to Expand Radio Disaster Net
Vice President Al Gore on Thursday announced a three-agency effort to expand the government’s Weather Radio to include all types of disaster warnings and to increase coverage to 95% of Americans.
The 350-station National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Weather Radio network now covers about 75% of the population.
The announcement came in the wake of devastating Palm Sunday tornadoes that claimed at least 43 lives in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas.
Although the National Weather Service issued warnings nearly 20 minutes before the first tornado touched down, “the weak link in the chain was the inability to get that warning information to all of the people in the threatened area,” Gore said.
Radios costing less than $25 turn themselves on when the weather radio network broadcasts a special alert tone. Gore said an emphasis will be placed on getting those radios installed in public gathering places “so they will be as common as smoke detectors.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is joining the Weather Service in the project. The system will now offer warnings for dangers such as hazardous materials spills, FEMA Director James Lee Witt said.
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