Resilience Through Amateur Radio for National Preparedness Month 2025

September is National Preparedness Month, which is a good time to look at your personal, family, and community resilience levels. For 2025, the National Preparedness Month theme is “Preparedness Starts at Home.” 

Amateur radio is a valuable resource for communication and community service before and during times of crisis, and can be a significant factor in your home’s level of preparedness.

Now is the time to make sure everything is in order. Many hams already participate in daily, weekly, and monthly nets that help them hone their communication skills, but if you’re not already active in one, this could be a good opportunity to get into it.
— ARRL Director of Emergency Management Josh Johnston, KE5MHV.

To extend your personal preparedness into helping provide community resilience, Johnston invites operators to become active in their local ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®) activities.

ARES has been leveraging the utility value of the Amateur Radio Service for 90 years. We saw last year during Hurricane Helene how vital a lifeline ham radio operators were for the affected areas.
— ARRL Director of Emergency Management Josh Johnston, KE5MHV.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is predicting an above-normal 2025 Atlantic hurricane season. 

Never let your guard down, don’t live your life in fear, just be aware.
— Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV

Graves added that his net operators are spread across the Western Hemisphere, but they still have training sessions via radio nets and Zoom meetings. 

More Information

National Preparedness Month - Ensuring Family Safety

National Preparedness Month - Station Readiness

National Preparedness Month - Get Involved