Hurricane Awareness – Inland Flooding

This is hurricane awareness week across the US as the National Weather Service (NWS) focuses on educating people to the dangers and procedures to be safe during the upcoming hurricane season which begins June 1. Today’s focus is on inland flooding with tropical systems.

-Brian-

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PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
512 AM CDT WED MAY 28 2014

...THIS IS HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS WEEK...

TODAY'S TOPIC:  INLAND FLOODING.

THE GOAL OF HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS WEEK IS TO PROVIDE EDUCATION
ABOUT THE HAZARDS ASSOCIATED WITH A HURRICANE, WHICH WILL PREPARE
YOU TO TAKE ACTION AS A HURRICANE APPROACHES. THIS INFORMATION MAY
SAVE YOUR LIFE, AT WORK, HOME, ON THE ROAD, OR ON THE WATER. EACH
DAY OF HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS WEEK FEATURES A UNIQUE TOPIC
RELEVANT TO EDUCATION AND AWARENESS. HURRICANE SEASON OFFICIALLY
RUNS FROM JUNE 1ST UNTIL NOVEMBER 30TH FOR THE ATLANTIC, CARIBBEAN
AND GULF OF MEXICO.

TODAY WE WILL FOCUS ON INLAND FLOODING. 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. 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. A QUARTER OF THE HURRICANE FATALITIES
DURING THE PAST 50 YEARS ARE A DIRECT RESULT OF INLAND FLOODING.
THE INTENSE RAINFALL IS NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE WIND SPEED OF
TROPICAL CYCLONES. IN FACT, SOME OF THE WORST FLOODING EVENTS HAVE
OCCURRED FROM WEAKER STORMS THAT DRIFT SLOWLY OR STALL OVER AN AREA.
2001'S TROPICAL STORM ALLISON PRODUCED EXTREMELY HEAVY RAINFALL AND
CATASTROPHIC FLOODS IN THE HOUSTON, TEXAS AREA. 41 PEOPLE WERE
KILLED. DAMAGE ESTIMATES BY FEMA WERE NEAR $5 BILLION, MOST OF THAT
IN THE HOUSTON METROPOLITAN AREA ALONE.

INLAND FLOODING CAN INCLUDE BOTH RIVER AND FLASH FLOODING. FLASH
FLOODING TYPICALLY OCCURS WITHIN SEVERAL HOURS OF HEAVY RAINFALL,
AND IS THE MOST DANGEROUS TYPE OF INLAND FLOODING. FLASH FLOODING
CAN BE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS AT NIGHT, WHEN RISING WATERS CAN NOT BE
EASILY SEEN. BE AWARE OF STREAMS, DRAINAGE CHANNELS, AND AREAS KNOWN
TO FLOOD.

FLOOD DAMAGE IS NOT USUALLY COVERED BY HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE. THE
NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM IS A PRE-DISASTER FLOOD MITIGATION
AND INSURANCE PROTECTION PROGRAM, MAKING FEDERALLY BACKED FLOOD
INSURANCE AVAILABLE TO RESIDENTS AND BUSINESS OWNERS.

SO, THE NEXT TIME YOU HEAR HURRICANE, THINK INLAND FLOODING!
DETERMINE WHETHER YOU ARE IN A FLOOD ZONE. IF ADVISED TO EVACUATE,
DO SO IMMEDIATELY. KEEP ABREAST OF ROAD CONDITIONS. DO NOT ATTEMPT
TO CROSS A FLOODED ROADWAY. REMEMBER THIS SIMPLE SLOGAN. TURN
AROUND, DON'T DROWN. MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS WEEK CONTINUES ON THURSDAY WITH INFORMATION
ON THE FORECAST PROCESS.

FOR ADDITIONAL PREPAREDNESS INFORMATION, YOU CAN VISIT THESE SITES
ON THE INTERNET:

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/BMX

NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER
WWW.HURRICANES.GOV

HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS WEEK SITE
WWW.HURRICANES.GOV/PREPARE/

FEMA
WWW.READY.GOV

AMERICAN RED CROSS
WWW.REDCROSS.ORG/WHAT-WE-DO/DISASTER-RELIEF

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT EITHER JIM STEFKOVICH, THE
METEOROLOGIST IN CHARGE, OR JOHN DEBLOCK, THE WARNING COORDINATION
METEOROLOGIST, AT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM,
ALABAMA OFFICE AT 205-664-3010.

$$

Category: Alabama's Weather, Tropical