Starting on Monday, March 19, the City of Joplin will begin to distribute weather radios as a tool to help keep families informed of approaching storms. Combined with warning sirens that are designed to alert residents outdoors of severe weather, these radios will help alert residents indoors to take shelter.
The NOAA all-weather radios will be available to citizens of Joplin from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. at these Joplin Fire Stations:
Fire Station #1 at 303 East 3rd Street
Fire Station #3 at 2717 East Newman
Fire Station #5 at 3223 South Texas
To receive a free weather radio, citizens will be required to provide picture identification and proof of residency within the city of Joplin. This can include a copy of a recent water statement, property tax statement, or other official document showing their current residential address. Prior to receiving their radios, residents will be asked to sign an agreement that they won’t try to sell the radio on a secondary market, and that they’ll continue to maintain the radio as long as they own it.
This distribution includes the first shipment of the 4,000 weather radios ordered through the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. Funding for the radios is provided by the Joplin First Response Tornado Fund. Recently, the Board of Trustees agreed to allocate funds for the purchase of 4,000 NOAA all-weather radios manufactured by Midland Radio Corporation.
“With this initial shipment of 20 percent of our order, the City wanted to get as many radios into the homes of our residents as quickly as we could,” said Assistant City Manager Sam Anselm. “We ask our residents to be patient, as we anticipate the arrival of the remaining order this week. We’ll make another announcement as soon as the rest of the radios have arrived and are ready for distribution.”
The radios come pre-programmed by the manufacturer to issue National Weather Service alerts for Jasper and Newton counties. The radios have both electrical power and battery backup capabilities, requiring three AA batteries, which are not included.
“We encourage residents to equip their radios with these batteries,” said Anselm. “Doing so provides critical backup power supply to the radio in the event of a power outage caused by any severe weather, and will enable residents to continue to receive information from the National Weather Service.”
For questions about the weather radio distribution program, please call 417-623-5858. Residents are also encouraged to visit www.ready.gov to learn other ways to be prepared for all types of severe weather.
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