I have a wonderful little portable radio that operates on battery, solar battery OR handcrank! One version of it also has a flashlight element. Very compact and selling around $20 in the alternative energy/lifestyle catalogs--it is plastic and not exactly unbreakable, but still pretty nifty for at least hearing the emergency channels. I have a "Ring of Fire" webpage set up to commemorate Mt.St.Helens but including quake and tsunami survivor and witness stories up and down the coast and in Hawaii. It also has some excellent links to Preparedness pages from a FEMA site and some others. http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/5209/nat/disas.htm M.J. Jodoin, Seattle, WA, USA mjjodoin@webtv.net http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/5209/index.html