Severe weather awareness week – Day 3
Severe weather can strike quickly and deadly. It is important to be prepared now while the weather is quiet. The following web story is a transcription from the National Weather Service regarding severe weather awareness week with a few additions. This is the third in a six part series on severe weather safety which will run each day during New York’s severe weather awareness week. Today, the topic is severe weather preparedness and safety. All thunderstorms, whether they are severe or not, are dangerous because of the hazards of lightning. When one you see lightning or hear thunder approaching, you need to protect yourself.
Before a thunderstorm, develop a safety plan you can implement to protect yourself and your family at home, school, work or outdoors. Identify a safe place to take shelter and know what actions to take when a warning is issued. The best way to do this is to conduct frequent drills. Keep in mind some important and critical information:
•Lightning is a thunderstorm’s biggest killer. Do not use electrical appliances or the telephone while a thunderstorm is nearby.
•If you are outdoors, seek shelter in a sturdy building. Keep out of open areas. Stay away from tall objects such as isolated trees, and metal objects such as towers supporting power lines.
•Make sure to stay away from wire fences, clotheslines, metal pipes, and rails. If in an automobile, do not touch metal parts or the exterior.
•Lightning may be about to strike if you are out in the open and feel your hair stand on end or your skin tingle. Drop onto your tiptoes at once, bend forward and put your hands on your head. Do not lie flat on the ground.
•If thunderstorms are approaching, stay out of the water. If you are boating, head to shore at the first sign of threatening weather. In addition to the danger of lightning, gusty thunderstorm winds can easily capsize small boats. You should also exit swimming pools and area lakes, ponds, streams, and gorges.
•You should also stay away from places that could flood during a thunderstorm. Flash flooding caused by heavy downpours is another thunderstorm danger. Low lying areas, especially near streams and creeks can flood rapidly. Never drive your car into a flooded area.
•Remember, thunderstorms occasionally produce tornadoes. Sometimes thunderstorm winds are strong enough to cause tornado like damage. So be prepared to move to a safe shelter when a thunderstorm is near.
The weather safety topics for the remainder of the week will be as follows:
Thursday: Tornados.
Friday: Flooding.
Saturday: Communications.
Severe weather is a fast changing situation. Become my facebook friend here by “liking” my fan page, and "follow" me on Twitter here (@PeteWeatherBeat). For more on your weather forecast, click on “Weather” and then the “Live Triple Doppler Radar” tab on our weather page. Make sure you refresh the Doppler radar to see the very latest information, as well. Furthermore, we have our new Interactive Doppler Radar on our website. You can zoom down to street level with Interactive Doppler Radar. You are in total control of where the radar can zoom in. Give it a try. In addition, you may tune to NBC Weather Plus on Time Warner Cable digital channel 133 or over the air 3.3 to get the very latest weather updates locally and nationally.
