The way to go is to get a handheld Baofeng radio and a HAM license. Then you can reach anyone, anywhere + get police scans, weather and emergency broadcasts etc. You should be able to buy a radio and get certified for a couple hundy. You don't need to be certified to listen, but you do need to be certified to transmit.

This is an good model

https://www.kenwood.com/i/products/info/amateur/th_k2at/
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