Town of Pegram to hand out weather radios

The Town of Pegram is soliciting interest in a new program that will provide a weather radio to community members who don’t have access to a device that provides instant inclement weather reports, according to a Jan. 7 Facebook post by Pegram’s Mayor John Louallen. 

The announcement comes nearly a month after devastating storms and tornadoes impacted Cheatham County on Dec. 9, 2023. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) designated the Dec. 9 storms a disaster (DR-4751-TN NR 011) and set up a Disaster Recovery Center to provide assistance. The Center is located in the McCullough Community Room, 334 Frey St. in Ashland City, and is open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

The Town of Pegram is currently surveying the interest to help determine how many weather radios are needed. In order to participate, applicants must live within the Pegram Corporation Limits. 

“We hope this service will provide peace of mind to our residents needing access to inclement weather reports,” the Facebook post reads. 

If you or someone you know is interested in participating, send an email to mayor@pegram.net and include the resident’s name, address, and contact number. You can also call Pegram’s Town office at (615) 646-0773 and provide the same information. 

Recipients of the program will be required to provide proof of residency when they receive the weather radio. 

The town is providing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Midland WR-120 Desktop Weather Radios. The NOAA weather radio is the official federal alerting system and can alert people to weather and non-weather related emergencies, including civil emergencies, and hazardous chemical spills. 

These radios are designed to be an indoor tornado siren and to operate just like a smoke detector. It is silently monitoring for trouble and automatically alerting the homeowner when needed. The radio is a radio-frequency broadcast designed to work when other systems fail. 

They have an 80-decibel alert tone, specifically designed to alert people when they are sleeping. 

As for funding for the weather radios, Mayor Louallen said town officials “felt this was important to offer to residents,” so the Board of the Mayor and Alderman budgeted for the purchase of the technology. 

"With the advancement in technology, these devices are allowing people to be better prepared during a weather event,” Mayor Louallen said. “Distributing the devices to our neighbors who don't have a smartphone will keep them safe and hopefully provide them peace of mind when bad weather strikes.”