Mike's NBC-TV stories

Emergency Radio apps

From hurricanes to tornados to forest fires and civil unrest, the world sure sees its share of natural disasters. Being warned and alerted to them and keeping in touch with emergency instructions is critical and these days, a couple of powerful smartphone apps can help you stay informed and safe.

helpThe most important step to being prepared for natural disasters is being informed and when receiving emergency reports from civil authorities can be a lifersaver. I like the Emergency Radio app, which lets you tune in on thousands of live radio communications from weather statements to police, fire and amateur radio. You can use your smartphone to tune into frequencies pretty much wherever you are anywhere in the country. Normally $1.99, it’s on sale now for 99-cents for the iPhone and iPad.

At $9.99 the iMap Weather Radio is pretty expensive but very responsive and let you not just listen to weather forecasts on demand but whenever a National Weather Service alerts is issued for your location, it will sound an alert. You can even set it to follow you as you’re traveling.

These are very handy apps to have whether you need emergency info or are just curious to what’s going on around you.

Mike is a veteran journalist whose video "PC Mike" reports have been distributed weekly to all 215 NBC-TV stations since 1994, making him one of the most experienced tech reporters in the country. His tech stories and videos have appeared on MSNBC, CNBC, the Today Show, The New York Times, USA Today and in numerous national newspapers and magazines. In addition to the PC Mike tech blog, he also publishes the Roadtreking.com RV Travel Blog in which he travels North America in an RV reporting about interesting people and places.