The Real Dangers Involved in Hurricane Safety
We talk about being prepared when it comes to hurricane safety and storm protection. Despite all the conversation about hurricane safety, we never hear a lot outside of designated weather channels about the specific dangers involved with hurricane protection, so we will briefly touch on the most prominent issues.
Perhaps the most obvious danger with hurricane safety is flooding, which comes in two forms – storm surge flooding and inland flooding. Storm surge flooding affects those located directly on the coast. The water from the ocean rises quickly and the surge causes catastrophic flooding not only along the coastline but further inland as well, potentially catching people fatally off guard.
The other type, inland flooding, can affect people even a hundred miles off the coast, and according to Disaster Preparer’s article, “Hurricanes – Understand the Dangers,” and accounts for 60% of hurricane-related deaths1. While flooding is not uncommon in even non-coastal parts of the United States, it is especially dangerous in hurricane protection situations due to the chaos of everything at the same time.
Many located in the “tornado alley” region of the United States understand the real dangers of tornadoes. They hit quick and fast – oftentimes too fast to seek storm protection besides running to the basement or makeshift storm shelter. In the case of hurricane safety, those that need to evacuate to a hurricane shelter or other type of storm shelter usually have time to do so. Unfortunately, if the wind and water from hurricanes don’t wreak enough havoc, there is also high potential for tornadoes to form during hurricanes. Actually, “more than 50% of hurricanes spawn tornadoes, usually from the right-front quadrant.” Be sure to scope out an internal room without windows on the bottom floor of your home or business to serve as a temporary storm shelter or at least provide some form of storm protection in case of a tornado.
Of course, closely related to tornados are high winds, which can reach more than 155 mph in a hurricane. This is why it is so important to have your home checked for storm safety and storm protection functionality before a hurricane safety situation occurs1. If you have any lawn décor or furniture, be sure to put everything inside to avoid a small fountain from becoming a projectile missile into your window.
