Emergency radio: why a crank or battery radio is still on every official list

Radios feel like a thing from your grandparents' kitchen. Yet open the official emergency kit list in New Zealand or the United States and a radio is right there near the top, next to water and a torch. So do you actually need one?

Short answer: yes, and it's one of the cheapest items on the list. Here's why, and what to look for.

What the official lists say

New Zealand. Get Ready, the Civil Defence site, says that if the power goes out, a solar or battery-powered radio, or your car radio, can help you keep up with the latest news. Its supplies page also says to keep a radio and batteries, with your torch and first aid kit, somewhere you can grab them in a hurry.

United States. Ready.gov's basic disaster supplies kit includes a battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert, with extra batteries.

Two governments, two different hazard maps, the same item. That's usually a good sign.

Why a radio, when you have a phone?

A phone does almost everything a radio does, as long as three things hold: it has charge, the mobile network is up, and the network isn't overloaded.

Ready.gov's "Get Tech Ready" page is frank about the last one. It says mobile networks can become overwhelmed during emergencies, making calls hard to make or receive, and that text messages need less bandwidth so they tend to get through more reliably.

A broadcast radio works differently. It only listens to a transmitter, so it isn't queuing for space on a busy phone network. A crank or solar radio also doesn't need the power to be on, or your phone's battery.

Your phone is still useful. In New Zealand, Get Ready lists Emergency Mobile Alert for warnings when life, health or property is in danger, and notes that the Govt.nz app can deliver alerts over Wi-Fi when there's no mobile signal. The point is to have more than one way in.

What to tune to in New Zealand

Get Ready names these stations to tune to in an emergency:

Radio New Zealand
The Hits
Newstalk ZB
More FM

It also suggests checking with your local Civil Defence group which stations they recommend for your area. Do that now, and write the frequencies on a piece of tape on the radio itself. In the dark, with a weak signal, you won't want to be scanning.

What to tune to in the US

NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards is a nationwide network of radio stations that broadcasts continuous weather information straight from the nearest National Weather Service office, 24 hours a day. The National Weather Service says the network has more than 1,000 transmitters covering all 50 states, nearby coastal waters, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and the US Pacific territories.

Two details matter when you buy a radio for the US:

It uses its own frequencies. NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts on seven VHF frequencies between 162.400 and 162.550 MHz. You need a receiver that has the weather band, so a plain AM/FM set won't pick it up.
It's not just weather. The service also carries warnings and information on other hazards, such as earthquakes, chemical releases and AMBER alerts.

Note that Ready.gov's list asks specifically for a NOAA Weather Radio "with tone alert". Check for those words on the box.

What to look for when you buy one

This part is our own buying advice, not an official list:

More than one way to charge. A hand crank works anywhere. Solar helps on a sunny windowsill. A USB charging port lets you top it up from a power bank or the car before you need it.
AM and FM, so you can pick up whichever stations your local Civil Defence group recommends.
The weather band, if you're in the US. Check it lists the NOAA weather channels.
A USB output so the radio can give your phone a little charge in a pinch. Be realistic: cranking a phone to full takes a long time.
A torch built in is handy, but keep a proper torch as well.
Test it every few months. Wind it, switch it on, and find your stations. A radio that's been in a drawer for three years with a flat cell is no help.

A radio covers news. What about answers?

A radio tells you what's happening: the road that's closed, the boil-water notice, the place to go. What it can't do is answer the question you have right now, like what a plant in the garden is, how the generator manual says to connect it, or what's on the map past the next town.

That's the other half of being ready when the internet is out. Some people print the pages they'd need. Others keep a reference library on a laptop. The Offline Brain download is one way to do the second: offline Wikipedia and WikiMed for reference reading, a map pack and your own small AI, all on your laptop with the wifi off. It's US$29 (NZ$49), one payment.