How to be prepared for floods BEFORE

How to be prepared for floods

BEFORE • Determine your flood risk. Know whether or not you live in a flood prone area. Call the flood inquiry telephone line, check the FEMA flood maps. • BUY FLOOD INSURANCE • Make a family disaster response plan which includes a flood response plan. Plan should include: • A place to meet in case of evacuation • List of phone numbers of family members • Prepare a family disaster response kit which includes: • Portable radio, emergency cooking equipment, flashlights, fresh batteries, nonperishable food and drinking water, essential medicines and a first-aid kit in a water proof container.

BEFORE • Prepare your house pre-flood by: • storing valuables safely in a high place such as the attic • store house hold chemicals high above the ground • close storm shutters • move vehicles to a higher elevation • turn off main gas valve • turn off the main power switch [Do not touch any wet electrical equipment] • keep storm drains near your home clear.

DURING • Follow instructions given to you by emergency management officials from a local station on your battery powered radio. • Do not linger outside in areas where rapid flooding is a threat. • Be prepared to evacuate. • If driving do not drive when the water is completely covering the road. If your car stalls, leave the car and reach safe ground.

AFTER • Be aware of gas leaks, live wires and electrical shorts before entering your home. • Record damage by taking photos. • Contact Flood Insurance.

Types of Floods • Duration Flood Names: • Slow-Onset Floods- Long lasting flood. Lasts from weeks to months. Mostly damages agriculture and roads.

Types of Floods • Duration Flood Names: • Slow-Onset Floods- Long lasting flood. Lasts from weeks to months. Mostly damages agriculture and roads. • Rapid-Onset Floods- Shorter floods lasting a couple days. Dangerous for people and property because of its swift subsistence.

Types of Floods • Duration Flood Names: • Slow-Onset Floods- Long lasting flood. Lasts from weeks to months. Mostly damages agriculture and roads. • Rapid-Onset Floods- Shorter floods lasting a couple days. Dangerous for people and property because of its swift subsistence. • Flash Floods- Occurs rapidly within only a few hours. Most dangerous due to its spontaneity.

Types of Floods - Location Flood Names • Coastal Flooding- Occurs in coastal areas due to hurricanes, tropical storms, or tidal waves.

Types of Floods - Location Flood Names • Coastal Flooding- Occurs in coastal areas due to hurricanes, tropical storms, or tidal waves. • Arroyos Flooding- Arroyo are dry rivers and when heavy rainfall occurs, these rivers flood.

Types of Floods - Location Flood Names • Coastal Flooding- Occurs in coastal areas due to hurricanes, tropical storms, or tidal waves. • Arroyos Flooding- Arroyo are dry rivers and when heavy rainfall occurs, these rivers flood. • River Floods- When heavy rain occurs, rivers are sometimes fed more water then they can hold, causing it to flood areas surrounding the river.

Types of Floods - Location Flood Names • Coastal Flooding- Occurs in coastal areas due to hurricanes, tropical storms, or tidal waves. • Arroyos Flooding- Arroyo are dry rivers and when heavy rainfall occurs, these rivers flood. • River Floods- When heavy rain occurs, rivers are sometimes fed more water then they can hold, causing it to flood areas surrounding the river. • Urban Floods- When metropolitan areas experience heavy rainfall, unless the city has a good drainage system, the streets will flood due to the lack of absorption materials such as trees and grass.

How Floods Affect You • Floods can take lives, damage property, and create landslides. • Floods can damage live stock and produce a number of diseases. • Floods can contaminate your water, wiping out your clean water supply. • Floods can destroy harvests creating food shortages.

Top sixteen flash flood/flood fatality states, 1960 -1995 Number of fatalities: 1. TEXAS - 612 2. CALIFORNIA - 255 3. SOUTH DAKOTA - 248 4. VIRGINIA - 241 5. WEST VIRGINIA - 240 6. PENNSYLVANIA 188 7. MISSISSIPPI - 181 8. COLORADO - 168 9. LOUISIANA - 149 10. MISSOURI - 122 11. GEORGIA - 112 12. NEW YORK - 107 13. OHIO - 102 14. ARIZONA - 96 15. KENTUCKY - 93 16. TENNESSEE - 91 Source: Roy Sedwick, Lower Colorado River Authority, written commun. , 1999

Top 25 Summer Rains in Texas Maximum Precipitation Year Date(s) Region(s) 48. 00 in. 1978 August 1 to 4 Central Texas 43. 00 in. 1979 July 24 to 28 East Texas and Upper Coast 40. 00 in. 1921 September 8 to 10 Central Texas 35. 00 in. 1932 June 30 to July 2 Central Texas 35. 00 in. 2002 June 30 to July 7 Central Texas 34. 00 in. 1899 June 28 to July 1 Central and East Texas 34. 00 in. 1954 June 24 to 29 Lower Rio Grande Basin 34. 00 in. 1967 September 19 to 25 South Texas 30. 00 in. 1936 September 13 to 18 Colorado River Basin 30. 00 in. 1960 June 24 to 26 Gulf Coast 27. 00 in. 1979 September 17 to 21 East Texas and Upper Coast 26. 00 in. 1952 September 9 to 11 Guadalupe / Lower Colorado River Basins 25. 70 in. 1971 September 7 to 13 South Texas and Coastal Bend 24. 00 in. 1948 June 23 to 24 Rio Grande Watershed 23. 00 in. 1943 July 27 to 29 Upper Gulf Coast Excerpted from: United States Geological Survey Open-file Report 03 -193 “Major and Catastrophic Storms and Floods in Texas” See: http: //floodsafety. com/texas/USGSdemo/measurement/maxprecip. htm

Maximum Precipitation Year Date(s) Region(s) 23. 00 in. 1974 September 14 to 25 Rio Grande Watershed 22. 70 in. 1940 June 28 to 30 South-Central Texas 21. 00 in. 1936 June 30 to July 4 Central Texas 20. 70 in. 1913 June 27 to 30 Central Texas 20. 33 in. 1964 September 15 to 30 South-Central & Northeast Texas 20. 00 in. 1984 September 16 to 19 South Texas 19. 80 in. 1915 August 16 to 21 East Texas 19. 60 in. 1945 August 26 to 29 Gulf Coast 19. 50 in. 1932 Aug. 30 to Sept. 5 Most of Texas 18. 00 in. 2007 June 27 Central Texas (MOST RECENT EVENT) NOTE #1: (Near - summer Tropical Storm Allison in Houston - June 6 to 9, 2001 was one of the costliest storms in U. S. history and produced 37. 00 in. of rain. ) NOTE #2: The infamous Galveston Hurricane event, in the summer of 1900 (September 8 -9) is still the single biggest loss of life in a U. S. disaster with estimates of 5, 000 to 8, 000 dead.

Works Cited • • • http: //www. ncdc. noaa. gov/oa/ncdc. html http: //www. hcfcd. org/ http: //www. usgs. gov/hazards/floods/ http: //www. houstonhistory. com/ http: //www. floodsafety. com/ http: //library. thinkquest. org/03 oct/02054/floodtype. htm Floods in Texas – USGS, Dec. 1963 Buffalo Bayou, Texas Flood Control Project – U. S. Corps of Engineers Texas Weather – George W. Bomar, 1983 Roy Sedwick, Lower Colorado River Authority, written commun. , 1999 http: //www 3. worldisround. com/photos/0/41/400. jpg http: //bayoucityhistory. blogspot. com/2006/06/great-houston-flood-of 1935. html • http: //www. srh. noaa. gov/hgx/projects/allison 01. htm • http: //www. cs. rice. edu/~dwallach/photo/allison 2001/ • http: //www. windows. ucar. edu/tour/link=/earth/Atmosphere/tornado/form ation. html&edu=high