EMA explores hand-crank radios for the Amish community
Holmes County EMA officials are currently exploring options that would provide the Amish community and others with hand-cranked radios that would help them receive weather alerts.
According to Jason Troyer, Holmes County Emergency Management Agency director, Ohio experiences approximately 21 tornadoes each year.
However, 2023 was anything but typical, and a former disaster helped pave the way for the county to explore the possibility of aiding area Amish families in dealing with catastrophic weather conditions.
Troyer recently reported to the Holmes County commissioners that 2023 saw a monumental leap in reported tornadoes, with the state experiencing 60 tornadoes this past year.
“I found it very interesting that we had such a huge jump that almost tripled the average number of annual tornadoes,” Troyer said.
He went on to discuss the possibility of creating a program in conjunction with Midland Radio to promote the implementation of Weather Awareness for a Rural Nation monitors, which focuses heavily on aiding the Amish population when notifying them about impending weather disasters.
“(Midland Radio) is in contract right now to develop a weather radio specifically designed for the Amish population,” Troyer said.
The radio does not have AM and FM capability, nor will it have a USB port. What it does have is a small solar-powered screen with a hand crank and battery backup that will allow the Amish community members and other groups like outdoorsmen and campers to successfully receive important weather bulletins.
“It’s a very unique opportunity, and there are some grant opportunities out there that may allow us to purchase the radios and get them out to the Amish population,” Troyer said.
Troyer said the idea was born many years ago when an Amish family in Kentucky was swept away by flooding waters that took the lives of four children.
A Kentucky regional EMA director was instrumental in developing the radio program following the deadly incident that saw a mother with four children trying to cross a low-lying bridge.
When the buggy was tossed into the flooding waters, all of the children perished.
That tragedy pushed along the need for ways to reach the Amish community that didn’t interfere with their faith values, and the hand-crank radio project was put in motion.
“Because Holmes County’s Amish population is around 49% of our county, this presentation really hit home for us,” Troyer said.
Jordan Tschiegg, Holmes EMA assistant director, said these radios have been available for some years, and it is done in conjunction with the National Weather Service.
“They already make these radios, but one of the Amish population’s concerns was that the solar panel in the back wasn’t big enough,” Tschiegg said. “So they’ve been changing that.”
In addition, Midland Radio has been improving the radio’s ability to zero in on specific areas of a county when an alert bulletin is sent out.
Troyer said that is a huge selling point because it will allow the county to share critical weather information with certain populations around the county without constantly bothering the entirety of the Amish population every time a bulletin is sent out.
“Weather radios are designed to manually go off per county,” Troyer said, noting that in discussion with local members of the Amish community, the alerts would go out countywide and the messages would become stagnant and less adhered to because of how widespread the bulletins would be.
With the ability to zero in on one specific area, the radios would paint a much more impactful message to those in danger.
“Not having to send it out to the entire county is a real benefit,” Troyer said.
The radios will be a one-time cost from $40-$60 and should provide quality protection for anyone using it.
While purposefully designed for the Amish community, these radios will be available for anyone who desires the added protection should the area suffer electrical issues or if they are out in an area camping or hunting.
Troyer said the NWS has already notified him that there is a real possibility for grant funding for purchase of the radios, and he said he is excited about seeking that funding.
Holmes EMA will provide further details about the radio program as it becomes available.