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Flash Flood Safety

If a flash flood warning has been issued for your area, you should be on high alert.  You may only have seconds to act, and how you respond may very well determine whether you live or die.

The obvious rule is to get to higher ground immediately.  Even an upper floor in your home is better than wandering the countryside trying to find a good location.

Obviously, avoid low lying areas such as gullies, ditches, or stream beds…..these can flood without warning in a matter of seconds.

If you see an area that is already flooded, avoid it, and never, repeat never, try to cross flood waters.  Remember, it only takes six inches of flowing water to knock over a grown man.

Never drive through flooded roadways.  Half of all flash flood related deaths are auto related.  Water is deceptive, with regard to both its depth and it power.  Roads could be washed out under the running water, and two feet of water is enough to wash you and your car away.

If you are caught in your car in a flash flood, you have a better chance of rolling down a window than getting a door open.  If the window will not open, wait until the car fills with water….the pressure will then be equalized and you will be able to open the door.

Be especially careful at night.  Flooding dangers are not as readily apparent, making the waters even more deceiving.  Don’t become a statistic.

If you are stranded atop a building or in a tree, do not attempt to come down.  Wait for rescue workers.  Do NOT enter the flood waters.