MAYSVILLE — After years of depending on television for bulletins about approaching storms, Maysville residents soon should have direct access to the National Weather Service's radio broadcasts.

        Congress has earmarked $77,000 in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration budget to pay for a transmitter to serve the Maysville area.

        Wayne Muse, director of the Mason County emergency management office, said storm warnings are issued for the Maysville area by the National Weather Service office in Wilmington, Ohio, about 60 miles away. The signal is too weak in Maysville for radios to pick it up.

        Maysville is one of the few areas of the state that doesn't have access to weather radio, The Ledger-Independent reported.

        “The only way we have to receive storm warnings is off the TV,” Mr. Muse said. “That's why we've been working really hard to get this. It's been an ongoing battle for years.”

        U.S. Rep. Ken Lucas said funding for the new transmitter has been included in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's budget for the coming year. That budget calls for $855,000 to be spent improving the weather radio system in Kentucky.

        National Weather Service spokesman Pat Slattery said the agency has been adding transmitters to boost its signal across the nation.

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