By Joel Paris
St. Clair News-Aegis

Patricia Surrett, Project Coordinator for Metro Mail & Printing Services briefed the Pell City Council on the St. Clair County EMA’s Community Safety Program: Free Emergency Alert Radio Distribution last week.

The radios will be distributed in St. Clair, Clay, Cleburne, Etowah and Talladega counties beginning in January 2009. The funding for these radios comes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The requirements for receiving a radio are a valid address in the participation areas and requesting a radio before March 31, 2009. Businesses, churches, schools and homes may all receive a free radio. The radios are backed by a three-year warranty and will alert residents to severe weather, manmade hazards and AMBER alerts.

The advertising campaign will begin in newspapers and radios in mid-December and will continue through mid-January. A direct mail campaign will begin on January 5. The radios will be mailed by April 30. Surrett said that distribution to 70 percent of the market, or delivery of 87,500 radios, will be considered a success.