Walkie-Talkies for the Emergency Kit: A Family Communication Plan for When Phones Go Down

Picture the night it matters. A storm has taken the power out, the cell network is overloaded or down, one parent is two streets over checking on a neighbor, and a teenager is at a friend's house. A pair of walkie-talkies in the kit can bridge that gap, but only if everyone already knows which channel to use, when to check in and where to meet. This page gives you that plan, built on the federal planning basics at Ready.gov, plus the radios I'd put in the kit.

What radios can and can't do in an emergency

What they can do. Walkie-talkies talk radio to radio, with no towers and no network, so they keep working when cell service doesn't (our guide to walkie-talkies without cell service explains how). Many can also receive NOAA weather alerts. Across a neighborhood, a campground or a farm yard, that's enough to keep a family coordinated.

How far they reach. The FCC expects license-free FRS radios to reach "up to two miles on the 2 watt channels, depending on conditions" (FCC consumer guide), and GMRS radios "one to twenty-five miles depending on station class, terrain, and repeater use" (FCC GMRS page). In a built-up neighborhood, plan on the low end. Handheld radios usually won't reach a relative across town. Our guide to how far walkie-talkies reach breaks it down by terrain.

Start with Ready.gov's planning basics

Ready.gov, FEMA's preparedness site, frames every family plan around five questions: "How will I receive emergency alerts and warnings? What is my shelter plan? What is my evacuation route? What is my family/household communication plan? Do I need to update my emergency preparedness kit?" Its steps are to meet with your family, assess your household's needs, document the plan and practice it (Ready.gov: Make a Plan).

Three pieces of Ready.gov's advice shape the radio plan below:

• Pick an out-of-town contact. "Pick the same person for each family member to contact. Pick someone out of town—they may be easier to reach in a disaster."
• Text, don't talk. "In an emergency, phone lines may be tied up. It may be easier to text and this leaves phone lines open for emergency workers."
• Meet at three levels. "Consider places in your house, in your neighborhood, and outside of your city or town so you're prepared for any situation."

Those quotes are from Ready.gov's family plan page for kids. Radios fill the gap in the middle. Texting and the out-of-town contact handle long distance; walkie-talkies handle the house, the street and the neighborhood when phones can't.

Is there a GMRS emergency channel?

No. There's no official GMRS emergency channel, and no FRS one either. The FCC says none of the GMRS channels are assigned for the exclusive use of any system (FCC GMRS page). The rule itself makes every channel an emergency channel instead: "Any GMRS channel may be used for emergency communications or for traveler assistance. Operators of GMRS stations must, at all times and on all channels, give priority to emergency communications" (47 CFR 95.1731). FRS radios may also send one-way "emergency messages" (47 CFR 95.531).

CB is the one personal radio service with a designated emergency channel: "CBRS Channel 9 may be used only for emergency communications or traveler assistance" (47 CFR 95.931). You'll see particular GMRS channels named online as "the" emergency channel; the FCC rules above don't designate one. The practical answer for a family: choose your own emergency channel, write it down, and make sure everyone knows it.

Build the family radio plan

1. Assign the radios. Decide who carries which radio: each adult, older kids, and a spare for a neighbor. Label each radio with a name.
2. Set a main channel and a backup. Pick one channel and privacy code as home base, and a second channel to move to if the first is busy. Write both on the radios.
3. Name your meeting points. One inside the house, one in the neighborhood (a neighbor's porch, the corner by the mailbox), and one out of town, per Ready.gov's three levels.
4. Set check-in times. Radios run down fast if they're left on and chattering. I'd pick a fixed time, such as the top of every hour for five minutes, and switch radios off between check-ins, except one left on at home base.
5. Give NOAA duty to one radio. One radio stays on weather alert so storm warnings reach the family even when everyone else's radio is off.
6. Keep the out-of-town contact for phones. Radios won't reach them. Texts may, when a call won't.
7. Use plain words. "Everyone come home now" beats a code nobody remembers under stress. Agree on who you are on the air: first names or simple call names.
8. If you're a licensed GMRS family, identify. GMRS stations must transmit their FCC call sign at the end of a transmission or series of transmissions, and at least every 15 minutes during a long one (47 CFR 95.1751). FRS users don't have call signs.

The printable plan card

Print this, fill it in with a pen, and keep one copy in the radio bag and one in each family member's backpack or wallet. Ready.gov's advice is the same: "Make sure everyone in the family has copies and keeps them in a safe space."

Choosing the main and backup channel

On FRS radios, channels 1 to 7 and 15 to 22 allow 2 watts; channels 8 to 14 are limited to 0.5 watt (FCC FRS page). For an emergency plan, put both the main and the backup on 2-watt channels. If some of the family has FRS radios and others have GMRS radios, pick channels between 1 and 22, which every FRS and GMRS radio shares.

Licensed GMRS families have one more tool: repeaters. A repeater on a hill or tower receives on a 467 MHz channel and retransmits on a 462 MHz one; handhelds may transmit on those 467 MHz main channels only when talking through a repeater or making brief tests (47 CFR 95.1763). If there's one near you, it can stretch a family's reach across town. Repeaters depend on their own power and owner, so treat one as a bonus, not your main plan. Our guide to which walkie-talkie channel to use covers how to pick a quiet channel before you commit it to paper.

NOAA weather alerts

NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards is a nationwide network that broadcasts "official Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week," and it also carries non-weather alerts such as chemical releases or 911 telephone outages (National Weather Service). Ready.gov's basic kit lists "Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert" ( Ready.gov: Build a Kit).

All three radios in the picks below can receive NOAA weather channels and sound an alert. In a walkie-talkie it's a receive feature you have to switch on. Midland's support page, for example, says that when an alert is issued for your area, its radios "beep for 20 seconds, then automatically switch to the weather channel" ( Midland walkie-talkie FAQ). Check your manual for how yours does it. Phones help too: Ready.gov says Wireless Emergency Alerts "are not affected by network congestion" (Ready.gov: Emergency Alerts), so keep phones charged even when calls won't go through.

The battery plan

A radio plan is only as good as the batteries. Ready.gov's power outage page says to "plan for batteries and other alternative power sources to meet your needs when the power goes out, such as a portable charger or power bank" ( Ready.gov: Power Outages), and its kit list includes "Extra batteries." For radios, that means:

• Choose radios with an AA fallback. When rechargeable packs die and the power's out, store batteries keep you talking. Motorola rates the T470 at up to 28 hours on three AA alkalines (T470 datasheet). The Cobra ACXT645 runs on AA cells, NiMH or alkaline (Cobra). The Midland GXT3000 takes a Li-ion pack or 3 AA alkalines (GXT3000 manual).
• Store spares with the radios. I keep a sealed pack of AA batteries in the same bag as the radios, so nobody raids the kit for the TV remote.
• Keep the rechargeables topped up. Charge the radios at every practice drill, and when a storm is in the forecast.
• Charge from the car. A USB car adapter or a power bank can refill USB-charged radios. The GXT3000 box includes a vehicle power adapter, per Midland.
• Stretch what you have. Use low power when you're close, keep transmissions short, and switch radios off between check-ins.

What to look for in an emergency-kit radio

• License-free first. FRS radios need no license at any age; the FCC says FRS is "licensed by rule" (FCC FRS page). Everyone in the family, and a neighbor, can use one. Our explainer on GMRS vs FRS covers the difference.
• AA fallback. The single most useful feature in a long outage.
• NOAA weather with alert. So storm warnings still reach you with the power out.
• A flashlight or SOS light. One less thing to hunt for in the dark.
• Splash resistance. Rain and wet hands are part of most emergencies. None of the three picks below is rated for a dunk, so keep them in a zip bag in a flood kit.
• Enough radios. One per adult and per older child, plus a spare. Radios usually come in pairs, so a family of four needs two 2-packs.

Radios for the emergency kit

For the full ranking, including radios with longer reach, see our best walkie-talkies for emergencies. Specs above come from Motorola's T470 page, Cobra's ACXT645 page and Midland's GXT3000 page and manual.

When one GMRS license makes sense

If your family is spread over more ground than FRS handles, or there's a GMRS repeater nearby, a GMRS license is worth a look, because one license covers the family. The rule lets a licensee allow "immediate family members" to operate, and defines them as "the licensee's spouse, children, grandchildren, stepchildren, parents, grandparents, stepparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and in-laws" ( 47 CFR 95.1705). The same section says a licensee may let anyone operate their GMRS station "if necessary to communicate an emergency message."

The applicant must be 18 or older, and licenses run for a ten-year term (FCC GMRS page). There's no exam: the eligibility rule in 95.1705 sets an age and general eligibility, not a test. The new-license application fee is $35 per the FCC's fee table (checked September 2026), and the FCC sets fees annually, so check the current fee table before you apply. Our step-by-step how to get a GMRS license walks through the application.

Practice it twice a year

Ready.gov's last step is simple: "Practice your plan with your household." For a radio plan, I'd do it twice a year, maybe when the clocks change:

1. Charge every radio and check the spare batteries.
2. Have each person switch to the main channel and do a radio check from the neighborhood meeting point.
3. Switch everyone to the backup channel and do it again.
4. Turn on weather alert on the NOAA radio and confirm it picks up a station.
5. Update the plan card with anything that changed: a new school, a new phone number, a new neighbor.

Twenty minutes, twice a year. The first time you need the plan is the wrong time to find out the backup channel is somebody else's.