Winner in Statewide ‘Weather Alert Radio Save Lives Contest’
James Case / CC
EFFINGHAM COUNTY, IL-(Effingham Radio)-Effingham County Emergency Management Agency Coordinator, Pamela Jacobs, announced the local winner in a statewide weather alert radio contest.
Debbie Whitacre of rural Effingham received a NOAA weather alert radio as one of 100 winners in the ‘Weather Alert Radios Saves Lives’ contest sponsored by the Illinois Emergency Services Management Association (IESMA) and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA).
The Winners were selected randomly from nearly 1,600 entries.
“There are many threats and hazards to the communities within Effingham County. Tornados, flooding, severe winter storms and hazardous materials accidents are only a few of the possible dangers.” said Pamela Jacobs. “A weather alert radio can warn you of approaching danger 24 hours a day, giving you and your family time to get to a safe place.”
Contest participants read information about weather alert radios and completed a five-question quiz in order to register for the drawing.
The contest, which ran throughout March, was available on the IESMA website (www.iesma.org) and the Ready Illinois website.
The National Weather Service (NWS) and state and local emergency management officials strongly encourage people to have a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio All Hazards with battery backup, a tone-alert feature and Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) technology, which allows the radio to be programmed to receive alerts for specified counties.
When an alert is issued for that area, the device will sound a warning alarm tone followed by the broadcast message.
Besides weather information, the NWS also broadcasts warnings and post-event information for all types of hazards, including natural, environmental and public safety hazards, such as earthquakes, chemical spills and AMBER alerts.
