PresumedLost,<br><br>I agree about the radio. My Daily carry bag contains both a small AM/FM/Shortwave radio and a 2 m Ham radio. My wife keeps an AM/FM/TV at her worksite. I found that the information after our earthquake via the public radio was both good and bad. Traffic reporting via helicopter was decent, damage assessments via radio varied between good and unfortunately sensational. Later viewing of TV "news" made even the worst public radio news look like exceptional journalism. My parents (in Montana) figured everyone in Seattle must be dead given the TV coverage. My wife was smart and listen to both the radio and TV coverage, and figured out that the TV was showing the same building collapse over and over. <br><br>Ham radio via our repeater systems turned out to provide excellent on-site evaluations along with some chatter. The phone patch capability far exceeded the cellphone coverage also.