For the average person, there are three options:

FRS/GMRS radios. UHF band. These can be very good over very short distances; however, although GMRS is technically a licensed service, virtually no one actually gets licensed, and the transceivers are sold everywhere, so it’s complete chaos during times when people attempt to use the service en masse. Although GMRS repeaters theoretically exist, I’ve never heard of anyone actually operating one.

CB radio. HF band. Also unlicensed, also somewhat chaotic, but not as popular as it once was. CB operates in the 11-meter HF band, so even though you are limited by law to medium range comms, signals can travel much further than you might intend.

Amateur Radio. HF/VHF/UHF bands. A licensed service, the test is fairly easy to pass to get a Technician Class license, a second slightly harder test for General Class, and a much harder test for Expert Class. Repeaters all over the place in mainly the 2 m VHF and 70 cm UHF bands, and depending on your area, possibly still a fairly active enthusiast community.

An Amateur Radio Operator license will give you the widest range of options and the most powerful equipment options. Many good handheld transceivers from Kenwood, Yaesu, Icom, and others. Equipment is capable of communicating globally, if you take the time to construct a good antenna system. Definitely the best option in times of natural disasters where widespread communications outages have occurred.

The problem with radios is, they are useless unless there’s someone else with a radio to talk to you.