SPECIAL ADVICE ON FLASH FLOODS

In many areas, unusually heavy rains may cause quick or “flash” floods.  Small creeks, gullies, dry streambeds, ravines, culverts or even low-lying grounds frequently flood very quickly and endanger people, sometimes before any warning can be given.

In a period of heavy rains, be aware of this hazard and be prepared to protect yourself against it.  If you see any possibility of a flash flood occurring where you are, move immediately to a safer location (don’t wait for instructions to move), and then notify your local authorities of the danger, so other people can be warned.

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CHAPTER 3

TORNADOES

* When a tornado watch (forecast) is announced, this means that tornadoes are expected in or near your area.  Keep your radio or television set tuned to a local station for information and advice from your local government or the Weather Bureau.  Also, keep watching the sky, especially to the south and southwest. (When a tornado watch is announced during the approach of a hurricane, however, keep watching the sky to the east.) If you see any revolving, funnel-shaped clouds, report them by telephone immediately to your local police department, sheriff’s office or Weather Bureau office.  But do not use the phone to get information and advice—­depend on radio or TV.

* When a tornado warning is issued, take shelter immediately.  The warning means that a tornado has actually been sighted, and this (or other tornadoes) may strike in your vicinity.  You must take action to protect yourself from being blown away, struck by falling objects, or injured by flying debris.  Your best protection is an underground shelter or cave, or a substantial steel-framed or reinforced-concrete building.  But if none of these is available, there are other places where you can take refuge: 

—­If you are at home, go to your underground storm cellar or your basement fallout shelter, if you have one.  If not, go to a corner of your home basement and take cover under a sturdy workbench or table (but not underneath heavy appliances on the floor above).  If your home has no basement, take cover under heavy furniture on the ground floor in the center part of the house, or in a small room on the ground floor that is away from outside walls and windows. (As a last resort, go outside to a nearby ditch, excavation, culvert or ravine.) Doors and windows on the sides of your house away from, the tornado may be left open to help reduce damage to the building, but stay away from them to avoid flying debris.  Do not remain in a trailer or mobile home if a tornado is approaching; take cover elsewhere.

—­If you are at work in an office building, go to the basement or to an inner hallway on a lower floor.  In a factory, go to a shelter area, or to the basement if there is one.