The 120 limb surges which have been observed by means of Wroctaw Observatory coronagraph from September 1966 to November 1977 are investigated. The evolution of surges was compared with the radio data during the surges. A correlation between radio bursts and the surges was found, particularly with chains of type I radio bursts, which is the first reliable correlation found of these bursts with non-radio events. The type I correlation only applied for surges without accompanying flare, of which 43% are correlated with this type of radio emission. In 23 of 30 associated events the start of a surge coincided within 5 minutes with the start or an enhancement of the type I storm. If flares were present, the association was not significant.
We also compared the maximum height reached by a surge with the frequencies of the radio bursts emitted at the same time and the maximum velocity of the rising surge with the frequency drift of type I chains. No such a correlation was however found.
We discuss the possibility that surges are the result of a sudden energy input into the chromosphere related to the type I source in the corona.