Before the invention of the Internet, cell phones or text messaging, if there was a disaster, the main way to get emergency information was via the radio.

Despite advances in technology, people still turn to the radio when usual forms of contact are lost.

Even if weather conditions are fine and dandy, operating on the radio works much the same way as cell phones, text messages and chat rooms, offering people a chance to communicate with anyone across the globe.

“If an emergency occurs, we can be activated to provide communication for an emergency event or a scheduled event,” said Herb Pettit, president of the Central Kentucky Amateur Radio Society.

“A lot of the members participate in the weather spotter program,” he said. “The National Weather Service provides us training on reporting a storm.”

Pettit, who has been involved in amateur radio for six years, said he uses the radio on a daily basis.

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