Even CNY is at risk from its hazards
This week is National Hurricane Preparedness Week. The Tropical Prediction Center has put together a great website to review historical power hurricanes, what hurricane hazards you should be aware of, and how coastal residents should be prepared. The strongest risk from flooding due to storm surge and wind damage is obviously along the Atlantic & Gulf coasts from land-falling hurricanes. Therefore, costal communities are most susceptible to serious weather. However, people who live well inland can experience dangerous weather conditions in the form of flooding from excessive rain.
Consider the following excerpts from the National Hurricane Preparedness site:
“When it comes to hurricanes, wind speeds do not tell the whole story. Hurricanes produce storm surges, tornadoes, and often the most deadly of all - inland flooding. While storm surge is always a potential threat, more people have died from inland flooding from 1970 up to 2000. Intense rainfall is not directly related to the wind speed of tropical cyclones. In fact, some of the greatest rainfall amounts occur from weaker storms that drift slowly or stall over an area. Inland flooding can be a major threat to communities hundreds of miles from the coast as intense rain falls from these huge tropical air masses.
Hurricane Floyd (1999) brought intense rains and record flooding to the Eastern U.S. Of the 56 people who perished, 50 drowned due to inland flooding. Hurricane Agnes (1972) produced floods in the Northeast United States which contributed to 122 deaths and $6.4 billion in damages. Long after the winds from Hurricane Diane (1955) subsided, the storm brought inland flooding to Pennsylvania, New York, and New England contributing to nearly 200 deaths and $4.2 billion in damages. In a study from 1970 to 1999, freshwater flooding accounted for more than half (59%) of U.S. tropical cyclone deaths. These floods are why 63% of U.S. tropical cyclone deaths during that period occurred in inland counties. At least 23% of U.S. tropical cyclone deaths occur to people who drown in, or attempting to abandon, their cars. 78% of children killed by tropical cyclones drowned in freshwater floods. So, the next time you hear hurricane -- think inland flooding!
What can you do?
- When you hear hurricane, think inland flooding.
- Determine whether you live in a potential flood zone.
- If advised to evacuate, do so immediately.
- Keep abreast of road conditions through the news media.
- Move to a safe area before access is cut off by flood water.
- Do not attempt to cross flowing water. As little as six inches of water may cause you to lose control of your vehicle.
- Develop a flood emergency action plan.
- Have flood insurance. Flood damage is not usually covered by homeowners insurance. Do not make assumptions. Check your policy.
The National Flood Insurance Program, is a pre-disaster flood mitigation and insurance protection program. The National Flood Insurance Program makes federally backed flood insurance available to residents and business owners.”
You can find the entire website here. There is a ton of information about prior storms, storm tracks, and how you can be prepared.
There was also some major flooding in extreme southern New York and into Pennsylvania and New Jersey from the remnants of Hurricane Ivan back in September of 2004. You can find more information on that here.
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 CNYcentral TV on Time Warner Cable digital channel 133 or over the air 3.3 to get the very latest weather updates locally and nationally. Plus, click on Severe Weather Tab to see detailed county watches, warnings, and advisory information. In addition, you can “follow” along with me on Twitter by either clicking on the “follow” button on the Twitter section of our weather page www.cnycentral.com/weather or by visiting www.twitter.com/PeteWeatherBeat.
