How to Stay Safe in Severe Weather After You Dump Your Cable Service

We cut the cord several years ago to cut down on our cable bill. We don't watch much local programming, which really isn't a problem until severe weather is in our area. We've experienced a lot of severe weather in the past few years which includes thunderstorms, tornadoes, and, hurricanes. If you have dumped cable to take advantage of streaming services, you might think you will get alerted in the event of a storm, but even a small storm could knock out your Internet, your power and leave you with spotty cellular service, that can make storm alerts arrive to you when it's too late. What do you need to do to keep you and your family safe? I have some simple tips that all cord cutters need use to stay safe.

1. Get a Digital Antenna. Digital Antennas equal free TV. Your local channels such as PBS, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox were meant to be free. Think about it? How many times has a storm knocked out your cable or satellite service? With an antenna, you can keep safe if your internet service goes out. Your local channels will still be able to get you the information you need to keep your home and family safe in the event of an emergency. When you get a digital antenna, make sure you re-scan for channels occasionally which will help you stay on top of emergency updates.

2. Download a weather app on your smart devices. It's rare that your cellular service will go out in extreme weather which is why it's a good idea to download the Weather Channel's app or your local channel's app to your smart devices which are connect to cellular data. With real time alerts you can make sure you get severe weather alerts on your smart devices.

3. Get an Amazon Echo Show or a Google Home Hub. If you currently have an Echo or Google Home and you've cut the cord, it's time to upgrade. If you aren't familiar, the Echo show and the Google Home Hub both have screens which are constantly showing news and other alerts. When there is severe weather in your area, these smart-home devices will show you what's going on. You can even take it a step further by programming the function into these devices to give you verbal alerts in the cases of extreme weather.

4. Get Weather Radio. In times of extreme weather, you can never predict what services you will lose. TV, Internet and cellular signals can all fall victim to storms in your area. To keep everyone safe in extreme weather, the National Weather Service has a dedicated radio station which transmits around the country. A weather radio can help you get this important information. Also, most weather radios do not require charging and will work in all weather conditions.

Cutting the cord is a great way to save money. Unfortunately streaming services aren't equipped to handle preemptive weather alerts in the case of extreme weather. If your family has cut the cord, make sure you have a plan in place to keep you informed of extreme weather in your area.

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