SCANNING: Reader tells how he prepares for storms
Scanners and GMRS radios keep listener informed during severe weather
By Richard Berger | WQCD443
Editor’s note: The following is a letter to the editor sent to us in response to our April article about using scanners to keep informed during severe weather. We thought these comments have good value for our readers. We welcome your comments, too, at editor@NatComMag.com.
Some years ago, I upgraded my Uniden HomePatrol-1 to a HomePatrol-2 because of additional features. I did not, however, give up the HP-1.
The Uniden HomePatrol-2 can be set up for monitoring weather alerts, in addition to tuning in local public safety activity. Learn more about the scanner by clicking here or on the photo above. | Photo courtesy of Uniden
The HP-1 has been kind of relegated to being my weather monitor radio, while the HP-2 became my portable/mobile unit. Both are set up with SAME, or Specific Area Message Encoding, programming.
I live in the Rockaway Peninsula section of Queens County, New York City, in New York State. It’s about 11 miles long, going east to west, and a bit wider than a mile at some points on the north-south ends. It is situated between the Jamaica Bay/Rockaway Inlet estuary to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. If you want, visualize my peninsula as south of Brooklyn and south of John F. Kennedy International Airport.
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I sheltered in place for Hurricane Donna in 1960, working for both my community-based Volunteer Ambulance Corps in the morning and New York City Emergency Medical Services in the afternoon, followed by paid overtime with NYC EMS overnight on the peninsula for Hurricane Gloria in 1985. I evacuated for Hurricane Irene in 2011, and again in 2012 for the superstorm, Hurricane Sandy.
This was Hurricane Donna’s path along the east coast in 1960. | Photo courtesy of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Between Irene and Sandy, we had a tornado come through the westernmost community on the beach, cross Jamaica Bay, the Belt Parkway by Plum Beach, and fade out in Marine Park next to Gerritsen Beach in Brooklyn. Damage was limited to some aluminum siding being ripped off a few houses.
Back to the radios
The HP-1 is upstairs in my bedroom, the HP-2 is in a very small go bag. I’m usually downstairs in my lounger chair (the benefits of being a retiree). When I hear the alerting tones from upstairs, I grab one of my Cobra GMRS/FRS walkie-talkies, which have automatic switchover to the NOAA/National Weather Service frequencies, and listen in to the notification.
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The HomePatrol scanners are set to the SAME codes for Morris County in New Jersey, Staten Island (Richmond County), Brooklyn (Kings County), Queens County in New York City and Nassau and Suffolk counties (also known as Long Island). The reason for these specific counties is that I presume most storms will follow the coast line, and these are the coastal counties I’m in, or near.
The only minor setback with the Cobras are that they cannot be set with the SAME codes, so I’ll be alerted to all of New Jersey, most of New York south of the Tappan Zee Bridge, and the southwest side of Connecticut.
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