Black & Decker's Storm Station

Black & Decker's Storm Station

If there's anything that the 2005 hurricane season has taught us is that you can never be too prepared for a storm. And it doesn't have to be a category five city destroyer; a well placed lightning strike from a summer shower or too much ice on the right limb during a snowstorm are more than enough to knock out the power to several blocks. It's a bad feeling when the lights go out and you realize that the batteries for the radio are in the kids' GameBoy and the flashlight hasn't been seen in months. Luckily for you, those tireless toolmakers at Black and Decker can keep you in the juice with their Storm Station emergency radio and power supply. The Storm Station uses a 12V rechargeable battery pack to power an AM/FM-weather band radio, TV audio tuner, rechargeable flashlight, room light, one 12Vdc inverter (perfect for a cell phone charger or small CB radio) and one 120 Vac inverter for a small electrical appliance.

About the size of a lunchbox and weighing in at about 10 pounds, the Storm Station can be kept out of the way until needed. When a particularly nasty storm approaches, simply plug it onto the wall and let it charge. It's designed to activate when it stops receiving power.

Fortuitously enough, we received our Storm Station about two weeks before hurricane Rita made landfall on the Texas-Louisiana coastline, so we were able to test it under the worst possible conditions. The verdict… we simply can't praise this device enough. As soon as the power went out the Storm Station came to life, its orange "find me" light shone like a beacon in the pitch-black utility room. Upon carrying it into the main house, everything worked great; we kept up to date on the storm's progress via the weather band and even listened to a show or two on the TV tuner. The room light did an excellent job of keeping the kids calm by providing more than enough illumination for them to color and play with their toys. The rechargeable flashlight was perfect for roaming the house and held plenty of charge to keep us in portable light until the power was fixed.

The 12Vdc inverter kept our cell phone charged so we could keep in contact with friends and family also affected by the storm. We also plugged a cordless telephone base into the 120Vac inverter as an extra line of portable communication. Later, we used the 120Vac inverter to charge a small cordless screwdriver (the plywood on the windows had to come down eventually). Both inverters are limited on how much power they put out (2.5 amp max for the 12Vdc and 25 watts for the 120Vac), but both work fine with small appliances used sparingly.

The radio in the Storm Station is also designed to run off of four AA batteries in the event that the rechargeable battery pack is depleted before power is restored.

Bottom line is Black and Decker's Storm Station is absolutely essential if you live in an area that has a history of loosing power due to inclement weather (hurricanes, floods, blizzards, tornados, etc) and just plain handy if you suffer rolling blackouts or the occasional blip. If you live in an apartment or dorm room and can't keep a generator, then having the Storm Station should be as important as having a smoke detector. Available wherever Black and Decker tools are sold, and running about one hundred dollars, the Storm Station is the single most economical and convenient way to prepare for severe weather. Grab one today and worry not when the wind blows.