MACON, Bibb County — Nearly 1,000 people in Macon-Bibb County can sign up for a free radio thanks to Macon-Bibb County Emergency Agency.
The radios are part of a county-wide approach to get everyone alerted when emergency weather storms through town.
To request one mailed to your home, you can fill out this online form with your name, number, email, and address. You can also call 478-870-2500.
If anyone in your home is hard of hearing, you can also request a pillow-shaker and strobe light.
The pillow-shaker clips to your pillowcase and goes underneath the pillow wake you up with strong vibration if you're sleeping through emergency weather.
"What really worries me when we're talking emergency communications is not necessarily you know, Friday at ten-thirty in the middle of the day...it's Sunday at four o'clock in the morning when everybody's asleep," Macon-Bibb Emergency Management Director Spencer Hawkins said.
According to the National Weather Service, "Tornadoes are also most likely in the mid afternoon to early evening time frame, but can occur any time of the day or night."
When the radio goes off it'll be a loud beeping sound and it will tell you what's going on, what the threat is, and what to do to stay safe.
There's also another way to stay alert at all times through the MBC Alert program. This link takes you to an online form where you add all the places you want to be contacted at.
In times of emergency weather, the MBC Alert system can simultaneously call you, email, text, and send a push alert through the app to make sure you don't miss the news.
Hawkins said it won't spam you, but they do test the MBC Alert system on the last Wednesday of the month with alerts that are clearly marked as a test.
"We wanna make sure you have a multilayered approach to alerting because nothing is 100 percent," Hawkins said.
The first batch of radios will most likely ship out at the end of July and include batteries and instructions. They are one per family and Hawkins said he hopes people take advantage of the opportunity to keep themselves and their families safe.
"And so that's where our MBC Alert systems and these radios will provide that timely, accurate, and informative message," he said.