When a catastrophic disaster occurs it often results in the loss of power. However, many radio stations will still be able to transmit information over the air waves.
In order to hear this information, and hear news about highways, rescues, orders to evacute and other important information you will need to have either a battery powered radio, a solar powered radio or a radio that works when you wind it up.
The radios I personally use work with both batteries and through winding it up, but everyone has there own preference.
One important thing to remember though is if your radio uses only battery power, make sure you have plenty of extra fresh batteries on hand.
Also excellent and highly recommended are the NOAA weather alert radios that you can set to come on during an emergency.
No matter what type you prefer just choose something and keep it in your disaster kit.