Dane County Expands Early Storm Warning Efforts, Thousands of New Weather Radios Now Available

April 20, 2009
Joshua Wescott, Office of the County Executive (608) 267-8823 or cell (608) 669-5606
County Executive

County Buys in Bulk, Sells at Cost to Improve Early Warning of Severe Weather

As severe weather season nears, Dane County has thousands of weather radios available at a low cost to help citizens countywide be better prepared.  That’s what County Executive Kathleen Falk announced at a press conference in Middleton Monday.  Middleton is one of dozens of towns, cities, and villages across the county where the “all hazards” radios are now available for sale at a greatly discounted cost.  

“Under this innovative program, in just a couple of years we’ve helped make sure thousands of families across our county are better prepared for bad weather,” County Executive Kathleen Falk said.  “These radios provide early warnings that help save lives.”

Since the county started the “all hazards” radio initiative in 2007, nearly 14,000 of the radios have been sold.  This year, another 5,000 are available for purchase at towns, villages, and cities across the county.  A list of where the radios can be purchased is attached.

Dane County purchases the radios in bulk and makes them available to local municipalities to resell them at cost for $25.00; a nearly 50% savings over what that model of radio sells for in stores.  The radios also come with four-double A batteries to ensure they work in case of power outages.

The radios are programmable and can be set to sound alerts for specific warnings and specific counties.  More information about the brand of radios sold is available at:

http://www.countyofdane.com/emergency/weather_radio.aspx

According to the National Weather Service, there were 38 tornadoes in Wisconsin in 2008 with five of them touching down or tracking into Dane County.  A number of parts of the county also saw damaging floods caused by thunderstorms producing heavy rain. The radios available for sale under the county initiative also sound alerts when flood warnings are issued.

 

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