Preparing NOW for an emergency can make a big difference in ensuring the safety and well being of yourself and those around you.
The Office of Emergency Management would like all of its citizens to take the following three simple steps to be prepared before disaster strikes.
Make A Kit
Let us help you create your emergency kit!
Make A Plan
How will you communicate with your family? Let us help!
Be Informed
Do you know what hazards are in our area? Do you know what is currently happening around you? Stay informed!
Flood Mitigation
When it comes to protecting your property from flooding, you can look all over the internet for suggestions, but we have tried to help you narrow your search down with the following links:
Did you know?
- More tornadoes are recorded during the months of May and June than in any other month.
- Tornadoes are most likely to occur between 3pm and 9pm, however, they can and have occurred at any time of the day or night.
- Tornadoes predominately move from the southwest to the northeast, however they have been known to move in any direction along with the parent thunderstorm.
- Tornadoes average a travel speed of 25-40 miles per hour, but have been recorded from 5-60 mph.
- Strong tornadoes last for twenty minutes or more and may have winds of up to 200 mph.
- Violent tornadoes can last for more than an hour with winds between 200 and 300 mph. (these are rare)
- During a tornado event, doors and windows in your home should remain closed in order to minimize the entry of wind into the building, which could cause building failures (walls forced outward, looking as those the building exploded).
- Flash floods generally occur within a short period of time after a rain event, generally within 6 hours or less.
- Flooding kills more people than just about any weather related event.
- It takes only 6 inches of fast flowing water to sweep you off your feet!
- Water only 2 feet deep can float away most automobiles!
- Supercell thunderstorms can last for hours and is often unusually violent.
- Straight line winds in a thunderstorm can exceed 100 mph and can be as damaging as a tornado.
- Lightning can occur even when its not raining.
- Lightning causes an average of 93 deaths and 300 injuries in the US each year.
- The air near a lightning strike is heated to 50,000 degrees fahrenheit, which is hotter than the surface or the sun!
- The energy from one lightning flash could light a 100 watt light bulb for more than 3 months!
- Lightning often strikes outside of heavy rain and may occur as far away as 10 miles from any rainfall.
- A persons chance of being struck by lightning is approximately 1 in 600,000, but can be greatly reduced by taking proper safety procedures and being indoors.
- Lightning victims carry NO electrical charge and should be attended to immediately.