More than 50% percent of hurricane related deaths result from flowing water caused by torrential rains and storm surge which inundates coastal areas due to onshore winds that funnel water up rivers and creeks and over lowlands. 25% of that number die in vehicles attempting to flee. Every hurricane survival plan should include information on the dangers involved in evacuation.  Know before the event if your home or business will be flooded with HURRICANE FINDER a device that predicts the direction and strength of hurricane's winds days before the storm's arrival and the possibility of flooding by storm surge.


                                     
                                                                       
                                             FLOWING WATER CAUSES MOST

                                HURRICANE RELATED DEATHS    


                 


                WHERE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO WERE IN THIS CAR



                                

                   GET OUT OF A STALLED CAR IN FLOWING WATER


Standing water should be avoided as it may short out your car's ignition system and leave you and your family stranded as storm surge continues to rise around you.  As little as twelve inches of moving water can sweep your vehicle into even deeper water.  If in doubt turn about. 

I was once driving under an overpass during torrential rain caused by a late season hurricane in New Jersey and into what seemed only inches of flowing water.  The car lost traction, began floating veering to the left.  Opening the window to avoid flooding the car I leaped out, crying to my wife to steer, in retrospect a useless request as the car had no rudder, and was now a rapidly sinking raft.  Running behind I quite easily pushed the station wagon to high ground where we restarted the car and escaped to the astonishment of a fellow driver safely stopped on the other side. 

The water was only about a foot deep, I was amazed how easy it was to push the car, how readily it floated, and how fast it moved with the current.  In seconds we were rapidly going downstream. However water did get in and the car's carpet smelled forever after, perhaps the odor of doom, or maybe just New Jersey's industrial waste.  Its hard to tell as they have similar hues.  Sorry N.J. that area is full of stuff best not mentioned.  However its slogan THE GARDEN STATE is apt as many areas to the north and south still retain that Eden-like quality I remember from my youth.  You can't go home again except in memories, bitter-sweet as they may be.


                     

                            CAR CAUGHT BY A SINK HOLE

What appears to be mere standing water may be a collapsed road caused by rapidly flowing storm surge concealing a sink hole beneath.  Always test the depth of water before attempting to drive through.  If in doubt turn about. 


                                


              MARINA PARKING LOT COVERED BY STORM SURGE 


          

         AN ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD FLOODED BY STORM SURGE

The people in this flooded area should have left many hours before any evacuation order to avoid horrendous traffic jams.  Calculate if your area is prone to storm surge by knowing the strength and direction of the storm's winds using HURRICANE FINDER advertised elsewhere on this site. This simple device can predict days in advance possible flooding of your home or business.


         

             CARS STREWN ABOUT BY RUSHING STORM SURGE

The force of rushing water is tremendous as shown by these cars doing a two step after the storm or maybe a waltz, never could get those straight. 

                     

           THIS DRIVER WAITED TO LONG TO SEEK HIGH GROUND



                                           

                       CAR BURIED IN BEACH FRONT SAND





              A PARKING LOT STREWN WITH HURRICANE DEBRIS



                                              

            TRUCK SWEPT OFF THE ROAD BY RUSHING WATER



                                    THE WRONG TIME TO BEGIN AN EVACUATION

These evacuees have picked an inappropriate time to begin their escape.  Know the possibility of flooding and leave many hours before in daylight to avoid traffic and the perils of darkness.  Drive slowly and steadily through standing water, don't attempt to bull along. After passing through pump your brakes to dry them out.


                 WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO BRING, WHERE TO GO

Prior to hurricane season prepare a family disaster plan giving everyone a role, even small children can learn lifelong survival skills through such an experience that will endure throughout their lives.  Decide where to go to seek high ground.  Arrange with off site family members or pick a motel or other place of refuge well before the event, make reservations to ensure you have a place to stay. Make prearrangements for pets, many motels or shelters do not make provision for them. If you take them with you provide food and water.  Don't set them free to fend for themselves, particularly boa constrictors or other large snakes as they tend to cause post hurricane problems of their own. This is only slightly in jest as large snakes have recently appeared here in Florida after just such an event.

Prepare a disaster pack including food and water sufficient for at least three days, a gallon of water a day should be provided for each family member. 

Have money available, ATM machines will be the first things to go, either running out of funds or breaking down with the loss of electricity.  Be prepared for high prices of everything, greed follows disaster as readily as rising fuel costs with any mid east outbreak. Whats a born-again passive-aggressive to do?

Gas up your vehicle and have spare fuel in jerry jugs available. To ensure the fuel remains fresh use it after the hurricane's passing, even if you haven't evacuated, and replace it upon another emergency outing. 

Provide each person with a flashlight and extra batteries. 

Bring a cell phone, CB or shortwave radio, and battery powered AM-FM radio.  A portable GPS receiver is a good investment and not only gives your latitude and longitude, which you can compare with forecast coordinates of the storm but those units with mapping capability can indicate the best route to safety and provide information on nearby businesses of interest, such as gas stations, restaurants and motels. 

Remember a hurricane crises can bring out the best and worst of people you encounter.  Bad people will continue to be bad, their badness emboldened by your seeming vulnerability.  Have some type of protection, there may be no one else to help.  Police are elsewhere on high ground perhaps directing traffic.  At the least carry pepper spray, Easy Off Oven Cleaner can substitute in an emergency.  Be prepared.

Part of that preparedness might be HURRICANE FINDER a simple device that works even when everything else has washed away.  Self reliance is a good thing.

HURRICANE FINDER MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE WHEN ELECTRONICS FAIL.

Thats that for this.
                                                            

                         ALWAYS WATCHING



                                 TAKE CARE,


                                        JB