Weather safety is important as it affects everyone, both inside and outside of the office setting. Thunderstorms, lightning, flodding, and tornadoes can impact us all. This presentation is to bring awareness to my colleagues at ERM.

1. Delivering sustainable solutions in a more competitive world
ERM Information Solutions
Weather Safety
Presented by
Bill Burkey

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Safety Moment = The whole presentation!
• Why is Weather Safety important?
Inside the office or out in the field, the weather affects EVERYONE!
• The United States is the most severe weather – prone country on Earth
10,000 Thunderstorms
5,000 Floods
1,000 Tornadoes
2 land-falling Hurricanes
• Cost (per year):
500+ deaths
$14 Billion in damage

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Thunderstorms
• Why Worry About Thunderstorms?
Tornadoes / Lightning / Flooding

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Lightning
• Lightning...
Atmospheric discharge of electricity accompanied by thunder.
A bolt of lightning can travel at speeds of 140,000 mph
Temperatures of 54,000° F
■ Causes an average of 55-60 fatalities and 400 injuries each year
■ Occurs with all thunderstorms
■ Costs more than $1 billion in
insured losses each year.
■ 16,000,000 lightning storms in the
world every year.
■ More than 80% of lightning fatality
victims are male, typically between the
ages of 15 and 40.

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Lightning safety
• NO PLACE outside is safe when thunderstorms are in the area!!
• If you hear thunder, lightning is close enough to strike you. Immediately move to shelter.
• Safe shelter is a substantial building or inside an enclosed, metal-topped vehicle.
• Stay in safe shelter at least 30 minutes after you hear the last clap of thunder.
• Stay off any electrical equipment that puts you in direct contact with electricity.
• Avoid plumbing, including sinks, baths, and faucets.
• Stay away from windows and doors, and stay off porches.
• Immediately get off elevated areas such as hills, mountain ridges or peaks
• NEVER lie flat on the ground
• NEVER use a tree for shelter
• NEVER use a cliff or rocky overhang for shelter
• Immediately get out and away from any bodies of water

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Frequency of lightning (Worldwide)
.

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Tornadoes
• Tornadoes...
A violently rotating column of air, in contact with the surface, pendant from
a cumuliform cloud, and often (but not always) visible as a funnel cloud
■ Cause an average of 60-65 fatalities and 1,500 injuries each year
■ Can produce wind speeds in excess of 200+ mph (average 110 mph)
■ Can be 1 mile wide and stay on the ground over 50 miles

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Tornado Alley

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Tornado Safety
• When a tornado warning is issued…get Shelter!
 Be Prepared ahead of time and identify safe locations at the office, on the road, in
the field or at your home!
 Best locations is an underground shelter (basement or “safe room”)
 Windowless interior room
 Hallway
 Lowest level of a sturdy building (interior bathroom)
• If caught outdoors find nearest shelter…if no shelter is available:
 Immediately get into a vehicle, buckle your seat belt and try to drive to the closest
sturdy shelter.
 If flying debris occurs while you are driving, pull over and park. Now you have the
following options as a last resort:
 Stay in the car with the seat belt on. Put your head down below the windows,
covering with your hands and a blanket if possible.
 If you can safely get noticeably lower than the level of the roadway, exit your car and
lie in that area, covering your head with your hands.

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Flooding

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Flooding
• A flood is the overflowing of the normal confines of a stream or other body of water, or
the accumulation of water over areas that are not normally submerged.
• A flash flood occurs within a few hours (usually less than 6 hours) of heavy or excessive
rainfall, a dam or levee failure, or the sudden release of water impounded by an ice jam.
• A flood is the inundation of a normally dry area caused by abnormal high water flow.
Floods develop more slowly than flash floods, normally greater than 6 hours.
• Flash floods and floods are the #1 cause of deaths associated with thunderstorms, more
than 90 fatalities each year.
• More than half of all flood-related drownings occur when a vehicle is driven into
hazardous flood water.
• Six inches of fast-moving water can knock you off your feet.
• Two feet of rushing water can carry away most vehicles, including SUVs and pickups.
• If you come upon a flooded roadway never drive through it.
• TURN AROUND DON’T DROWN!!!

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Be Prepared!
• Know Your Risk
 Gather information about hazards. Contact your local emergency
management office, American Red Cross chapter and National
Weather Service office. Find out what types of disaster could
occur and how best to respond and protect yourself. Learn your
community’s warning signals and evacuation plans.
• Have a plan
 Discuss the information you have gathered and what you need to
do to prepare for and respond to different emergencies. Pick two
places to meet in case you are separated:
 A spot outside your home for an emergency, such as fire,
 A location away from your neighborhood in case you can’t return
home.
• Be Prepared!
 Post emergency telephone numbers by phones and in cell phones.
 Keep enough supplies in your home to meet your needs for at
least 3 days. Assemble an emergency supply kit with items you
may need if evacuated.
 Keep important family documents in a waterproof container. Keep
a smaller emergency supply kit in your vehicle.

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