• Pull safely onto the shoulder of the road, away from any trees that could fall on the vehicle.

• If flash flooding is possible, go to higher ground.

• Stay in the vehicle and turn on the emergency flashers until the heavy rains subside. If flash flooding is possible, abandon the vehicle and climb to higher ground.

• Avoid flooded roadways.

• Secure outdoor objects, such as lawn furniture, that could blow away or cause damage or injury.

• Listen to a battery-operated radio or television for the latest storm information.

• Do not handle any electrical equipment or telephones, because lightning could follow the wire. Television sets are particularly dangerous at this time. Use telephones ONLY in an emergency.

• Do not take a bath or shower. Metal pipes can transmit electricity.

• Turn off air conditioners. Power surges from lightning can overload the compressors.

Flood Safety

Perhaps the biggest cause of flood-related deaths and injuries is lack of public understanding of the severity and danger involved in floods and flash floods. The following tips can help protect you during flood events:

• Many people are killed by driving or walking on roads and bridges that are covered by water. Even though the water might look only inches deep, it could be much deeper and with very strong currents. It only takes two feet of water to carry away many cars; six inches of swiftly moving water will sweep a person off his feet.

• Most trucks, four-wheel drive, and sports utility vehicles also are susceptible to being swept away by high water. Such vehicles often give motorists a false sense of security, believing the vehicles are safe under any conditions. This belief results in deaths or emergency rescues of motorists in vehicles either stuck in or swept away by flood waters.

• If you are approaching a flooded roadway, turn around and take an alternate route. Even though vehicles in front of you have passed through the high water, you may not be as lucky.

• If your car stalls, abandon it immediately and climb to higher ground. Many deaths have resulted from attempts to move stalled vehicles.

• Never let children play near creeks or storm drains when the water is rising or high. Every year, deaths or injuries occur as a result of people getting swept away, with the most frequent victims being children.

• Flooded streams and rivers are not safe for recreational boating. Many canoeists and kayakers had to be rescued from dangerous rapids in flood-swollen streams and rivers.

• Never set up a tent or camper on the bank of a river or stream. It is best to allow some distance between the campsite and water so if a flash flood does occur, you will have more time to move to higher ground.

• If you live in a low-lying area or near a creek, pay close attention to water levels during heavy rain events. Water levels rise rapidly during flash floods, often surprising victims. Heavy rainfall upstream can cause a river or stream to rise quickly, even if it is not raining near you. Be prepared to move quickly to higher ground if water levels begin rising. Quickly responding to an evacuation order can save your life.

• If advised to evacuate, do so immediately. Follow recommended evacuation routes. Shortcuts may be blocked.

Tornado Safety

As the severe weather season approaches, North Carolina Emergency Management and the National Weather Service want you to be prepared for tornadoes and severe thunderstorms. Take some time during tornado safety week to make a tornado plan for your family, friends and co-workers. Planning ahead will lower the chance of injury or even death in the event a tornado strikes.

Tornadoes can occur with little or no warning. You will have only a short time to make life-or-death decisions. It is important to know the basics of tornado safety so that you can survive should one strike.

• Listen to the radio, local television, weather channel or a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) radio for information.
• Don’t wait until a warning is issued to begin planning how you will respond. Take responsibility for your safety and plan now.
• Have a plan. Meet with household members to discuss how to respond to an approaching tornado. Hold tornado drills. Learn how to turn off the water, gas and electricity at the main switches.
• The safest place to be during a tornado is underground in a basement or storm cellar. If you have no basement, go to an inner hallway or smaller inner room without windows, such as a bathroom or closet. Go to the center of the room. Try to find something sturdy you can get under and hold onto to protect you from flying debris and/or a collapsed roof. Use your arms to protect your head and neck.
• Mobile homes are particularly vulnerable to damage from high winds. Residents, even those who live in mobile homes with tie-downs, should seek safe shelter when a tornado threatens. Go to a prearranged shelter when the weather turns bad. If you live in a mobile home park, talk to management about the availability of a nearby shelter. If no shelter is available, go outside and lie on the ground, if possible in a ditch or depression. Use your arms to protect your head and neck and wait for the storm to pass. While waiting, be alert for the flash floods that sometimes accompany tornadoes.
• Never try to outrun a tornado in a car. A tornado can toss cars and trucks around like toys. If you see a funnel cloud or hear a tornado warning issued, get out of your vehicle and find safe shelter. If no shelter is available, lie down in a low area using your arms to cover the back of your head and neck. Be sure to stay alert for flooding.
• Be alert to what is happening outside. Here are some tornado danger signs:
• If there is a watch or warning posted, falling hail should be considered as a real danger sign.
• An approaching cloud of debris can mark the location of a tornado, even if a funnel is not visible.
• Before a tornado hits, the wind may die down and the air may become very still.
• Tornadoes generally occur near the trailing edge of a thunderstorm. It is not uncommon to see clear, sunlit skies behind a tornado.

Tornado Actions

Several times in recent years, schools have been hit by tornadoes. Fortunately, in most cases classes were not in session. In some other cases, where students were present, school officials familiar with tornado safety took prompt action to safeguard the students before the twisters hit.
 

North Carolina Emergency Management and the National Weather Service (NWS) urge all schools to develop plans and conduct drills to cope with tornadoes. Tornado drills require different actions than fire drills. Here are some items to consider:

• Remember that the NWS issues a tornado WATCH when the possibility of tornadoes exists; and a tornado WARNING when a tornado has been sighted or indicated on radar. Remember, tornadoes can form suddenly and there may not be time for a Tornado Warning before a twister strikes. Teachers and students should know the difference between a Watch and a Warning.
• School officials at the state and county level should have a plan for rapid dissemination of tornado Watches and Warnings to every school in the system ­ either by radio or telephone.
• Each school should be inspected and tornado shelter acres designated. Schools with basements should use these as shelters. Schools without basements should use ground floor interior hallways that are not parallel to the tornado's path, which is usually from the southwest. Never use gymnasiums, auditoriums or other rooms with wide, free-span roofs. Teachers and students should know their designated shelter areas.
• School administrators should establish procedures governing use or non-use of school buses during tornado Watches and Warnings. Generally speaking, school buses should continue operating during tornado Watches, but not during tornado Warnings. School buses are easily rolled by tornado winds.
• During a tornado Watch, specific teachers or other school staff members should be designated to monitor commercial radio or TV for tornado Warnings, even if the school has a NOAA Weather Radio tone-alert system. Weather spotters also should keep on eye on the sky for dark, rolling clouds, hail, driving rain, or a sudden increase in wind, in addition to the telltale funnel. Tornadoes are often obscured by precipitation or darkness. Other public agencies also report tornado sightings.
• A special alarm system should be designated to indicate a tornado has been sighted and is approaching. A backup alarm system should be planned for use if electrical power fails ­ perhaps a battery-powered bullhorn, an inexpensive hand-cranked siren, or even an old-fashioned hand-swung bell.
• Specific teachers should be assigned to round up children on playgrounds or other outdoor areas during a tornado Warning. Otherwise, they might be overlooked.
• Children in schoolrooms of weak construction ­ such as portable or temporary classrooms ­ should be escorted to sturdier buildings or to predetermined ditches, culverts, or ravines, and instructed to lie face down, hands over head. Most tornado deaths are caused by head injuries.
• When children are assembled in school basements or interior hallways during a tornado drill or Warning when the danger is imminent, they should be instructed to respond to a specific command to assume protective posture, facing interior walls. Such a command might be "everybody down! Crouch on elbows and knees! Hands over back of head!" It is essential that this command be instantly understood and obeyed. Illustrations showing the protective position should be posted on bulletin boards.
• If a school bus is caught in the open when a tornado is approaching, the children should be escorted to a nearby ditch or ravine and made to lie face down, hands over head. They should be far enough away so the bus cannot topple on them. School-bus drivers should be regularly drilled in tornado procedures.
• School district officials planning new buildings or additions should keep tornadoes in mind when setting construction standards. 

Tornado WATCH

IT MEANS there is a chance of dangerous weather with damaging winds. Be on the lookout for danger signs listed below and be ready to move quickly to safety if the Warning Signal is given.

Tornado WARNING

IT MEANS a tornado has been sighted. Go at once to the area listed below. If you see or hear the tornado coming, do not wait for the Warning Signal – go to your shelter area if there is time; if not, curl up on the floor and protect yourself as the boy in the picture is doing. If a tornado comes while you are on the school bus, get away from the bus and into a nearby ditch or ravine. Lie down, hands over head.

Danger Signs

Severe Thunderstorms – Thunder, lightning, heavy rains and strong winds

Hail – Pellets of ice from dark-clouded skies

Roaring Noise – Sounds like a hundred railroad locomotives; a crashing thunderous sound

Funnel – Dark, spinning "rope" or column from the sky to the ground
 
Protect Yourself

Lay face down, draw your knees up under you and cover the back of your head with your hands.

¹ Adapted from NOAA, National Weather Service publication NOAA / PA 74025