Emergency frequencies that are actually monitored, and the nets that come up when it matters

"What's the emergency frequency?" has two answers. The short one is a channel per radio service, listed below - with the caveat that most of them are only as monitored as whoever happens to be listening. The better answer is the organized volunteer networks that come on the air on schedule when a disaster does. Both lists follow, and everything on them can be heard without any license at all.

The emergency channels, service by service

Two cautions before treating any row as a lifeline. None of this replaces 911 where a phone still works. And listening to every frequency here is legal for anyone, but transmitting is governed by each service's rules - what those rules actually say about life-threatening emergencies is its own article.

The nets: organized operators, on schedule

A net is a scheduled on-air meeting with a controller directing traffic - the procedure is simpler than it sounds - and the emergency nets below run on the amateur shortwave bands, which is what lets them span the country while local infrastructure is down.

The Hurricane Watch Net. Activates whenever a hurricane comes within 300 statute miles of populated land, or at the National Hurricane Center's request, and passes measured ground truth from stations in the storm to the forecasters. By day it runs on 14.325 MHz (upper sideband); by night, 7.268 MHz (lower sideband). During an active storm this is some of the most consequential listening on the air.

SATERN. The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network has run since 1988. Its international net meets on 14.325 MHz Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, plus 14.320 MHz Saturdays, at 10:30 AM Central; an independent group of former SATERN operators runs a daily net on the network's old frequency, 14.265 MHz, under the same acronym (Strategic Auxiliary Team Emergency Readiness Net) with no Salvation Army affiliation. Full schedule, history, and how to take part: the SATERN guide.

ARES, RACES, and SKYWARN®. The local layer: county-level amateur nets on 2-meter repeaters, activated for severe weather and disasters. Frequencies are local by nature, so there's no national list to print; when severe weather is inbound, the county's SKYWARN® repeater is the most informative frequency in town, and the SKYWARN® guide covers how that network works and how to find yours.

Listening without a license

Reception is license-free in the US, and none of the gear is exotic:

• The HF nets (both SATERNs, the Hurricane Watch Net) are shortwave voice on sideband: a shortwave receiver with SSB mode hears them, and so does the $40 SDR dongle route with an appropriate antenna.
• The VHF rows (marine 16, 146.520, the weather band) are covered by any scanner, and marine and amateur sets receive them natively.
• No radio at all: internet-linked receivers around the world (the WebSDR and KiwiSDR networks) will tune the HF nets from a browser, which is a reasonable way to hear what a net sounds like before hurricane season gives you a live one.

This site is not affiliated with The Salvation Army, the Hurricane Watch Net, ARRL, or any organization named here.