SEVERE WEATHER PREPARATION

The following information was provided by the City of Galveston's Emergency Management Coordinator

FLOODING

Flooding claims more lives than any other natural disaster in Texas, annually 25 Texans die due to flooding. Each year new construction and concrete covers soils that would have soaked up rainfall, and this adds to runoff during rain events. Flash floods are most severe in urban areas such as Harris and Galveston Counties. Floodwaters can fill streets, freeway underpasses and parking lots and can sweep away cars. As our population increases each year, this threat to both life and property will continue to grow.

Flash floods are very deceptive. They occur most often at night when warnings may go unnoticed and when darkness makes it hard to find an escape route. Even worse, the water is almost always deeper than it appears to be and moving more swiftly than it appears to be. It can hide damage to the road beneath it as well as debris in the road.

The safety rule is simple…stay out of and away from deep water! Motorists must not try to cross flooded low areas. Even if a previous vehicle made it through the flooding, the water can rise so rapidly that you may not make it! Using an alternate route to avoid flooding is the only way to be safe.

If your vehicle stalls in floodwaters, leave it immediately and move to higher ground if you can do so safely. Most cars and light trucks will begin to float in as little as two feet of water. If the water begins to reach the doors, electric window and door systems may be shorted out. Even if they are not, occupants must now push against the current to open doors. This is extremely difficult, if not impossible.

Everyone, especially children, must stay away from flooded creeks, streams, or drainage ditches. The swift current can quickly sweep away even the strongest swimmers. Soggy banks along these swiftly moving waters become unstable after heavy rain and can easily give way, dumping the victim into the flood waters.

The best way to know when flash flooding threatens is to stay informed or the latest weather information and warnings. Monitor NOAA Weather Radio or another reliable source of weather information whenever thunderstorms approach or when the weather appears to be threatening.

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