I work in an office building about 3 miles from my apartment. I live in a medium sized city in the US.
I have thought about getting a pair of walkie talkies for communicating when the cell phone services are not working (I have experienced this), but from what I understand one should not expect to get more than 1 mile on those in a city.
My question is: What are realistic options for communicating during an emergency over a range of about 3 miles? I would like this to be a handheld option.
By realistic I mean something that wouldn't cost more than $500 to establish.