ioSafe Rugged Portable Hard Drive

Another item that we showed in our severe weather preparedness segment on "Wake Up With Al" this past Friday was the ioSafe Rugged Portable Hard Drive, pictured below:

This item is available via the web at RadioShack.com.  This is the second most popular item (per e-mail comments & questions that I've received) that we featured on the show, right behind the NOAA Weather Radio with Skywarn band that I featured in this recent post.

Why, you ask, would a portable Hard Disk need to be part of a severe weather preparedness kit?  It's all about data preservation.  I spoke to a gentleman today who lost important papers in a hurricane some 4 years ago, and that loss is still causing great difficulty for him today.  Countless victims of this year's deadly tornadoes in Joplin, Tuscaloosa, Birmingham and other areas lost thousands of digital family photos, important papers and other documents when computers were destroyed.

With a device like the ioSafe, you can scan important documents (like wills, auto & property titles, social security cards, passports, etc.) into your computer, back them up on the ioSafe and rest assured that you'll have another copy of those important items if disaster strikes.  

Not only do I recommend backing-up important legal & identity related documents, but also priceless family photos, movies, etc., can all be digitally stored for safe keeping on a device like the ioSafe.  A natural disaster doesn't have to strike in order for this to be important - your computer could simply crash and your hard drive be wiped clean with the data unrecoverable.  Regardless of the scenario, a device like the ioSafe will give you peace of mind that your important photos, documents, etc., are backed-up should you need them in any event.

Once you've backed-up these items, I highly suggest placing the ioSafe in a safe deposit box or other off-site, secure location for additional protection in the event of a disaster.

The model that we showed on Wake Up with Al is a 250gb version which retails for $149.99.  ioSafe Hard Drive's are available with capacity all the way up to 1tb!

This device is virtually indestructible.  It can withstand a crushing force of up to 5,000 pounds, can be submerged in water (salt or fresh), and was even shot with a shotgun at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year, as shown in the video below (go to about 3:08 into the video for the real action):

In each of the scenarios described above, the data on the drive was fully recovered!

So, whether you're putting together your hurricane preparedness kit for this year, or developing your severe weather safety kit for next spring, please be sure to include this type of device in your plans.

NOAA Weather Radio Buyer's Guide

When putting together your Severe Weather Safety Kit, one item that is an absolute must is a NOAA Weather Radio, such as one of the models shown below:

RadioShack Model 12-521: $69.99

RadioShack Model 12-093: $39.99

RadioShack Model WR-11: $39.99-online only

Each of the above weather radios are available at RadioShack, and feature both electric and battery back-up power and an alarm clock.  The first and last models also include an AM/FM Radio.

I personally own the 1st radio shown.  It features S.A.M.E. (Specific Area Message Encoding) technology, which allows you to program the unit to warn you only of the specific types of severe weather that you choose for your county (rather than having the radio alert go off anytime there is severe weather anywhere in the entire listening area).  It also features an LED screen (shown in the 1st picture) that alerts you to the type of weather warning or other hazard that was recently broadcast.  

The last radio shown also features the S.A.M.E. technology, but lacks the LED display.

The first two units are available for purchase at most RadioShack stores.  The last unit is available online only.  To view the entire line of NOAA Weather Radios available at RadioShack, please go here.

Regardless of whether you purchase your weather radio at RadioShack or elsewhere, my advice is that you just make sure that you have one on hand that fits your needs prior to the start of severe weather season in your area.  When you buy it, be sure to pick up extra batteries that you can keep in your severe weather safety kit should the power go out for an extended period of time.

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Wake Up With Al!

Update 6/9/11:  Travelling to New York City today for the show tomorrow.  They now estimate the segment will air at approximately 5:50 AM CDT, 6:50 AM EDT.  Looking forward to it!

-----------------------------------Original post below:

I've been invited to appear on "Wake Up With Al" with Al Roker this Friday on the Weather Channel!  The segment is supposed to air at approximately 6:20 a.m. Eastern time (5:20 a.m. Central) so set those DVR's if you're interested.  We'll be talking about severe weather safety & preparedness, and showing some cool items from RadioShack that can help keep you informed & safe during severe weather.

Meet Sam: A True Survivor of the Joplin Tragedy

I had the pleasure of meeting several survivors of the Joplin tragedy on our visit this past Tuesday.  Sam, pictured above, was one of them.  What you see behind him is all that remains of what was once his single story brick home off of 22nd and just West of Main Street, one of the hardest hit areas of the city.  All that remains, I should say, except for his basement, which thank God he had available to him that fateful day just over one week earlier.

Roll the clock back to that day, May 22nd, and the photo below captures what Sam saw as he emerged from the basement.  You are seeing correctly, not a single wall was left standing.  The white tarp at the bottom of the image now covers the entrance to his basement - to prevent anyone from accidentally falling-in now that the structure that was once above it is completely gone.

In the series of photos below, you can see the view in all directions today from Sam's house.  The destruction is, for lack of a better word, incredible.

Sam walking down his front steps (looking to the South)

View from inside Sam's home, looking to the North

View from inside Sam's home, looking to the East 

View from inside Sam's home, looking to the West

Most of the remaining trees around his home are at least partially debarked (another sign, as if we needed it, that the tornado which caused this destruction was among the strongest that ever occur anywhere on earth).  Part of someone's garage door is wrapped around one tree, part of a car (or perhaps a truck) is wrapped around another.  One of his neighbors homes, like Sam's, is completely gone.  Fortunately the family of 4 (which includes 2 small children), was out of town that day.  The home on the other side of Sam's still has a few walls remaining.  Unfortunately, the man living there did not survive.


I asked Sam what he was doing on that Sunday afternoon when the tornado hit, and what had prompted him to (thankfully) seek shelter.  He said that he heard the outdoor tornado warning sirens sounding, so he went out on his back porch to take a look (he doesn't watch TV).  He had a perfect view of the approaching storm, but could not see the actual tornado as it was behind the rain and hail that were advancing toward his home.  He said that he "heard the wind, a strong, roaring wind unlike anything I ever heard before - just like all the people always say when a tornado comes..."  He said he wasn't sure what exactly prompted him, but at some point he just felt like he needed to go down and get into the basement (which was not something that he did on a regular basis - even during a tornado warning).  For some reason, this one felt different, and he felt like he needed to take cover.


It appeared to me that almost every home in Sam's neighborhood had a basement.  Many, including Sam's, were full of debris.  Fortunately, Sam also had a tornado safe room in the Southwest corner of his basement (which had been installed by a previous owner).  That is where he took shelter that day.  He had to be rescued afterward, with at least part of his home having crashed down into the basement and blocking the doorway of the safe room.  He was not injured.


I really didn't want to ask him the obligatory "what did you hear and what did it feel like when you were down in the basement" question (not because I didn't care or wasn't interested, but because it felt very inappropriate to be asking such a question given the fact that this man had survived a "one in a million" tornado and I was standing in the middle of what looked like a war zone at the time).  Fortunately I didn't have to.  Sam volunteered the information almost immediately after having told me that he ran into the safe room:  "it sounded like the whole neighborhood was being bombed, and my skin hurt - it felt like it was being sucked off of me..."


He asked me how long it probably took for the tornado to pass over his home, because "to me, it felt like 5 or 10 minutes".  He couldn't believe it (and I took no pleasure in informing him) that it likely only took a matter of seconds for his entire home to be swept away and destroyed by the tornado.


I couldn't help but be amazed at how calm, cool and collected Sam was as we stood and talked on the dusty wood floor which was all that remained of his home that evening.  Of course, it had been 9 days since the event took place, but still, the enormity of it all just seemed as if it would take months to get over, if it were me.  He showed me a single coin that had been passed down to him by his grandfather some years back.  He was thrilled to have found it in some of the rubble that had been carried a few doors down and dropped in the middle of the street.  Those, he told me, are the things that cannot be replaced, and he was glad to have found even just one family treasure amidst all of the ruins.  The fact that an item so small could have been recovered among the tons of debris that littered the neighborhood is amazing in and of itself, I suppose.

A pile of rubble includes some of the remains of Sam's house

(which is now several doors down the street)

I will never forget what it felt like for me personally to be standing in the middle of this disaster area, witnessing it first hand, even a week later.  What it looked like, what it felt like, and yes, what it smelled like are burned into my senses for what, at least at this time, feels like will be an eternity.


On the positive side, I will also not soon forget the people that I met, like Sam, who have the positive attitude, outlook and desire to stick it out, rebuild and start all over again.  "There's no way I'm leaving Joplin..." he said, "...this is my home".


For more on the Joplin tornado event, click here to return to the table of contents post, which contains a chronological listing of all related posts, and will be updated with new links as additional posts are made.


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What a Tornado "Safe Room" Can Do

The post below was originally published on 5-1-11, shortly after the tornado outbreak across the Deep South.  It has been one of the most viewed posts on the blog this year, and with recent interest in the events in Joplin, I thought I'd bump it back up for our new readers.

While the "primary" tornado season is winding down for 2011, its never too early to plan for a shelter installation for next spring.  Also, keep this fact in mind:  one of the Joplin survivors (Sam, you can see his story here) had a safe room in his basement.  It saved is life, because a significant part of his home crumbled down into the basement, which would have crushed him if the extra support had not been available.

The original post is below:

The very gripping photo above shows the Harrison family of Athens, Alabama.  According to the person taking the photograph, Gary Cosby Jr., the family had literally just stepped out of their "safe room" (to the left) on Wednesday to find the remainder of their home completely gone.

Judging by the complete destruction surrounding them, I think it is a very safe bet that the entire Harrison family would have perished had it not been for their tornado safe room.  Thank God they had that available.  I wish that every person that perished on Wednesday would have had a shelter option like that one.  If they did, and if you assume that they had a way to receive the warnings and get to shelter before the tornado struck, I don't think we would be sitting here today talking about 300+ deaths and scores of injuries from this tragic event.

A tornado safe room is built especially to withstand very strong, tornadic winds.  As you can see, the Harrison's safe room is made out of large concrete masonry block (and probably reinforced by steel bars) with a steel reinforced door.

In many "run of the mill" tornado situations, you can seek shelter in an interior room that is not specifically built as a tornado safe room, like a bathroom or closet and come out fine on the other side of the event.  However, in cases like the 4-27-11 outbreak in Alabama, where many tornadoes were of EF-3 to EF-4 intensity (which equates to winds of 136-200 mph) or higher, a specifically designed above ground "safe room" or a below ground shelter are really the best (if not the only) options available to increase your chances of survival.

I don't know if the Harrison family had that shelter installed, or if it was already in place when they moved into their home, but I know they are very grateful that it was there when they needed it on Wednesday.

***Editorial note:  I have also included this posting in my "Joplin Tornado in Review" series, as it has enormous application to that event (as pointed out in Sam's story as referenced above).  For more on the Joplin tornado event, click here to return to the table of contents post, which contains a chronological listing of all related posts, and will be updated with new links as additional posts are made.

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Tornadoes Can Handle Rough Terrain

I am often asked if tornadoes can strike areas with rugged terrain (like hills, mountains, etc.).  My simple answer is always "yes", but since a picture is worth a thousand words (and a video is worth 1000+ words), take a look at this footage from near Empire, AL.  It was shot this past Wednesday, 4-27-11:

For more coverage of the 4-27-11 tornado outbreak, please go to my blog's homepage.