This event really drove home for me how important prior planning is. People found themselves having to leave their homes, with nothing. Others were stranded on the road when the waters blocked the roads or their cars stalled in the water. They had to abandon their vehicles, with nothing.
With the minimal of planning the odds are they would not have found themselves in these positions. How? Nothing is worth your life, not your job, not your car, not that event you need to be at and most defiantly not “playing” around running water.
Even ankle high water is enough to sweep a grown person off their feet. The dip you drive over every day can fill up with enough water to stall your car. Mother Nature will win every time if you challenge her! Period, full stop!
Having food, water and extra cash at home can keep you from having to venture out during a flood. Having a get home bag can help you if you are stranded somewhere. Having a bail out bag can help you if you’re in a situation where you suddenly have to abandon your car. Being able to miss a day or two of work because you have something set aside might ensure you are around to go back to work after the storm has passed.
Do not drive through streams in your car. Your car is not designed to go through water. The force of the water can easily push you off the road and you will quickly find yourself stranded. Do not try to walk across streets which have turned into rivers. Especially in urban areas, water takes the path of least resistance and in urban areas this means the roads. Do not drink or spend time in flood waters. Sewage treatment plants get flooded and odds are the water all around you is contaminated!!! Even a simple scratch can become infected by the CRAP, chemicals and other nastiness floating in the water.
DO NOT DRINK UNTREATED FLOOD WATERS! You will become ill, you can become ill even if you just fall down in the water and swallow some. Then you are trapped by or dealing with flood waters and sicker then you have ever been in your life!!!!
Know the threat of flood in your area. The information for most areas can be found of the internet. Heck if you go outside and look at the land around you, you can figure out where the water is going to go; if your home is at the bottom of the terrain guess where the water is going to end up.
Plan ahead, watch or listen to the local news and be ready to leave before it is too late. During an emergency is the wrong time to plan, under stress you will make mistakes and please USE SOME COMMON SENSE!!!!
As Always,
Stay Safe!!!
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