by Back-to-back flood disasters in recent years in Texas, New Mexico and Kentucky, shown among many others that the preparation for flashy floods is a new necessity if the planet warms up.
And there is no more dangerous time for a flash flow than in the dark; You can’t see the storm coming and you can’t see the water rising. Even worse, if it’s late enough, you are not awake to hear the warnings.
So how do you stay safe?
This is what you must do now to keep you and your loved ones safe before the following strikes are of the flood.
Know your risk
The first thing you have to do is find out if your house is in an area of flood risk. The best way to do that is to look at maps of the flood zone, which show which areas will be dangerous when the water starts to rise.
Search for your address in the flood mapping -instrument of the American Federal Emergency Management Agency. Are there stripes or color strip over your house or neighborhood? If that is the case, you are at a certain level of risk. If extreme floods attack, there is a good chance that you will be hit.
An example of how FEMA maps flood zones on an interactive map, so that homeowners can search their addresses and learn their risk. – FEMA
Firststreet.org is another tool that you can use to assess your risk. Simply connect your address to see how vulnerable your house or community is for floods, burning, wind and extreme heat. The site also contains projections of how those risks are expected to change in the coming decades, a useful memory that the climate crisis superchagert the rainfall and the flood risk increases.
Stay informed
A volunteer walks through rubble and helps in searching for search and rescue efforts on the banks of the River Guadalupe in Center Point, Texas. – Brandon Bell/Getty –
Flash flood is naturally intense and sudden. You probably don’t have time to plan as soon as a flash flow strikes, so you need to know if it can get wrong again before it happens and take the prediction seriously.
To begin with, meteorologists are really good at releasing the word.
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Do you spend a lot of time on social media? Follow your local National Weather Service Office and your favorite TV meteorologist there.
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Watch TV. We are of course partly for CNN, but local news is still one of the best ways to get weather warnings. Many stations also have their own weather apps.
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Register for heavy weather warnings via a weather app. These include more than just the most terrible warnings; You can also get personalized predictions and notifications for when meteorologists think that the circumstances can be poor.
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Understand the Alert Lingo: A watch is issued when the circumstances are good for bad weather, but it has not happened yet. A warning is issued when the heavy weather takes place. An emergency is issued when things are real, very bad.
Do not disable your mobile phone warnings
You know them when you hear them: those shocking emergency warnings that come from your mobile phone. Tornado; Flash flood; A missing child – all these will activate a wireless emergency alarm.
They may be loud and surprising, but do not switch them off. They are perhaps the only line of defense between you and deadly weather if you are quickly asleep at 2 o’clock in the morning
Buy a Noaa weather radio
You cannot watch TV when the power is off and the mobile telephone service is not guaranteed in an emergency. So if everything else fails, a weather radio can ensure that you still get the warning.
These devices remain silent until a serious alert is issued, and then automatically enabled and tuned to broadcasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which issues real -time weather warnings, including flood warnings.
Many models are equipped with flashlights and hand grains to keep the battery charged. Some have solar panels.
These radios are also designed to wake you up in an emergency, just like a smoke detector.
It doesn’t matter how chic you want to get; The point is that they serve as a Failsafe information source and offer the much needed peace of mind, especially if you are in a risky zone.
Plan
Warnings and information only go as far if you do not have a plan.
Early evacuation and going to higher terrain as quickly as possible is essential.
If you have prepared a “GO bag”, you can also move quickly. FEMA recommends that you have at least one liter of water per person per day for several days, as well as a multiple stock of non-perpetual food, plus a flashlight, a first aid kit, batteries and basic managing items such as antibacterial wipes and garbage bags. Keeping cash is also smart; If stores are open, do not expect to take credit cards when the electricity or internet is off.
Removing crews flood waste in an RV park in Georgetown, Texas. – Joshua A. Bickel/AP
Tips for when the water starts to rise
Be prepared to come to higher terrain on foot. By driving high water can be fatal, so the “on foot” section is crucial. Grab your emergency set and go on foot to higher soil before high water touches your door. Plan where that will be in advance.
Keep an ax in the attic. This sounds wild, but if the water is so high that you have to come to the attic, you need a way out. And that goes directly through the roof with an ax.
Invest in life jackets for the family. If the worst happens and you are swept away by flood water, a personal flotation device can save your life.
Never drive through flood water. It is necessary not to get into a flood in your car, especially if you do not know whether your escape route is in a flood zone. Two feet of water can float a car and you can wipe 6 centimeters moving water from your feet. If you notice that you take off in a car with flood water around you, go out immediately and go to high terrain.
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