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NOAA. Some people say "Noah," some people say "N, O double AA." Either way,
they're all talking about the same organization the National Oceanic & Atmospheric
Administration perhaps the best-kept secret in government. Take a
quick trip to the NOAA Web site, and you'll immediately be struck by
two things they're about a lot more than the weather, and they have
one of the most beautiful Web sites on the net. You can find fascinating
information on everything from giant
squid, to
climate, and NOAA satellite
images - and that's just the tip of the iceberg. The images
throughout the Web site are stunning, and the articles are filled with
some of the most interesting stuff you can read anywhere online.
Since the mid 1990s, the NOAA's National Weather Service has been making
its way into American homes by way of their NOAA Weather Radios. A
lot of folk rely on NOAA Weather Radios for immediate information about
natural hazards like tornados, volcanic activity, strong winds, and
earthquakes, as well as technological hazards like oil and chemical
spills. The NOAA issues warnings and forecasts 24 hours a day, 365
days a year, in all fifty states. It's no surprise, then, that in the
aftermath of September 11, people have been wondering why the NOAA
Alert system was not used to signal a national crisis. Will it be used
in the event of another national crisis?
The NOAA says that their Weather Radio "is an all-hazards radio network,
making it the single source for the most comprehensive weather and
emergency information available to the public." In other words, weather
radios won't just give you weather warnings. They're also tapped into
the FCC Emergency Alert System which means that
if and when the President decides to issue an alert about a national emergency, it
will go directly to your Weather Radio.
Though the system could have been used on September 11, President Bush went
directly to the broadcast media instead. The President's decision to
forego an EAS alert sparked a quiet, though heated national debate
about how the EAS should be used. Is it exclusively a warning system?
Or can it be used to report incidents after the fact as well?
It's not surprising that the NOAA could be instrumental in handling a national
emergency. In 2001, NOAA satellites helped save 166 people throughout
the United States. As part of the Cospas-Sarsat international
search and rescue system, the NOAA has helped rescue 12,889 people
worldwide - including an amazing rescue
of two people threatened by a bear after their plane went down in Alaska.
Given the impressive amount of information at the NOAA's disposal, it's no
wonder they believe the Weather Radio should be as "common as smoke
detectors" in US households, schools, and offices it could really
help protect and save a lot of lives. That's why C. Crane integrated
a Weather Band into the CCRadio and the CCRadio
plus. Like other ideal NOAA Radio's, it's easy to operate, durable, and can
run on batteries. The CCRadio plus also features a weather alert that
sounds an alarm, and illuminates a small LED to let you know of any
reported hazards on the way.
Some weather radios are also equipped with S.A.M.E. technology. S.A.M.E.
stands for Specific Area Message Encoding, and as the name suggests,
this function allows users to receive the National Weather Service
alerts for their specific county. C. Crane might have a new S.A.M.E
enabled base unit in the next few months. If you haven't already requested
to be put on C. Crane's private mail list to receive their
catalogs, or you can
subscribe to their email
to receive information when new products are available.
C. Crane has recently added the ShareCom Weather Radio to it's product
line. This weather radio is equipped with the S.A.M.E technology. Click
the following link to Learn more about the ShareCom Weather Radio.
C. Crane has had many customers tell them how much they appreciate the
Weather Band (WX) and NOAA alert features of the CCRadio plus and
the Sangean DT400W Digital
Pocket Radio. Having these radios on hand gave them enough time to
batten down the hatches and keep their families safe from the inclement
weather heading their way.
You can learn a lot more about this remarkable organization at some of
the following NOAA Web sites:
National Weather Service Home Page
NOAA Home Page
NOAA Magazine Site
Operational Significant Event Imagery
You can also hear the NWR
voices online and meet Donna, Craig and Paul (though Paul
is being phased out).
And don't forget to check out their question of the month to learn cool facts
to impress your friends and family.
To view our past articles, please visit our What's in the News Archives.
As always, please contact us with any comments or
article suggestions you might have.
If you are interested in using C. Crane's articles on your own Web site,
please let me know. I'd be happy to take a look at your Web site and
see what we can do. Good-bye for now, Carlos. About
the author
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