Disaster Preparedness

South Texas is no stranger to extreme heat. With an extended period of extreme heat, there is often high humidity. During that time, a body can be pushed beyond its limits. Illnesses range from heat cramps to heat stroke. Young children, the elderly and those who are sick or overweight are more susceptible to extreme temperatures.

Safety Tips

• Stay indoors as much as possible and limit exposure to the sun.
• Apply sunscreen
• Drink plenty of fluids and replace salts and minerals in your body.
• Limit intake of alcoholic beverages.
• Never leave children or pets alone in closed vehicles.

Heat Watches and Warnings

• Heat Wave - Prolonged period of excessive heat, often combined with excessive humidity.
• Heat Index - A number in degrees Fahrenheit (F) that tells how hot it feels when relative humidity is added to the air temperature. Exposure to full sunshine can increase the heat index by 15 degrees.
• Excessive Heat Watch - Conditions are favorable for an excessive heat event to meet or exceed local Excessive Heat Warning criteria in the next 24 to 72 hours.
• Excessive Heat Warning - Heat Index values are forecast to meet or exceed locally defined warning criteria for at least 2 days (daytime highs=105-110° Fahrenheit).
• Heat Advisory - Heat Index values are forecast to meet locally defined advisory criteria for 1 to 2 days (daytime highs=100-105° Fahrenheit)

Heat Related Illnesses

• Heat Cramps - Muscular pains and spasms due to heavy exertion. Although heat cramps are the least severe, they are often the first signal that the body is having trouble with the heat.
  • If these symptoms are observed:
• Get the person to a cooler location and remove excess clothing.
• Give cool sports drinks. Do not give liquids with caffeine or alcohol. Discontinue liquids if victim is nauseated.
• Seek medical attention if: the cramps do not subside in an hour, the victim has heart problems, or is on a low-sodium diet
• Heat exhaustion Typically occurs when people exercise heavily or work in a hot, humid place where body fluids are lost through heavy sweating. Symptoms include heavy sweating, paleness, muscle cramps, tiredness, weakness, dizziness, headaches, nausea, fainting. If not treated, the victim's condition will worsen.
• If these symptoms are observed:
  • Move victim to air-conditioned place and lie down. Loosen or remove clothing.
  • Cool the victim by placing them in a cool shower or bath, or by applying cool, wet cloths.
  • Give sips of water or cool sports drinks containing salt and sugar. Do not give liquids with caffeine or alcohol. Discontinue liquids if victim is nauseated.
  • Seek immediate medical attention if there is no improvement, the victim is unable to take fluids, vomiting occurs, or any symptoms are severe.
• Heat stroke is a life-threatening condition. The victim's temperature control system, which produces sweating to cool the body, stops working. The body temperature can rise so high that brain damage and death may result if the body is not cooled quickly. Symptoms include extremely high body temperature above 103°F, hot dry red skin, rapid strong pulse, headache, dizziness, nausea, confusion, unconsciousness.
• If these symptoms ae observed:
  • Call 911 or emergency medical services, or get the victim to a hospital immediately. Delay can be fatal.
  • Until the emergency medical personnel arrive on scene or during transport to the hospital, move the person to a cooler location, cool by removing clothing, bath, sponging, applying a cold we sheet.
  • Do not give the victim fluids to drink.

Flooding is a temporary overflowing of water onto land that is normally dry. Flooding may happen with only a few inches of water, or it may cover a house to the rooftop. There are many possible causes of floods including heavy rain or snowmelt, coastal storms and storm surge, waterway overflow from being blocked with debris or ice, or overflow of levees, dams, or waste water systems, Flooding can occur slowly over many days or happen very quickly with little or no warning, called flash floods.

Flooding can occur during every season, but some areas of the country are at greater risk at certain times of the year. Coastal areas are at greater risk for flooding during hurricane season (i.e., June to November), while the Midwest is more at risk in the spring and during heavy summer rains. Ice jams occur in the spring in the Northeast and Northwest. Even the deserts of the Southwest are at risk during the late summer monsoon season.

Basic Safety Tips

• Turn Around, Don’t Drown! ®
• Avoid walking or driving through flood waters.
• Do not drive over bridges that are over fast-moving floodwaters. Floodwaters can scour foundation material from around the footings and make the bridge unstable.
• Just 6 inches of moving water can knock you down, and one foot of moving water can sweep your vehicle away.
• If there is a chance of flash flooding, move immediately to higher ground.
• If floodwaters rise around your car but the water is not moving, abandon the car and move to higher ground. Do not leave the car and enter moving water.
• Avoid camping or parking along streams, rivers, and creeks during heavy rainfall. These areas can flood quickly and with little warning.

Flood Watch

Flood Watch= “Be Aware.” Conditions are right for flooding to occur in your area.

Steps to Take

• Turn on your TV/radio. You will receive the latest weather updates and emergency instructions.
• Know where to go. You may need to reach higher ground quickly and on foot.
• Build or restock your emergency preparedness kit. Include a flashlight, batteries, cash, and first aid supplies.
• Prepare Your Home
• Bring in outdoor furniture and move important indoor items to the highest possible floor. This will help protect them from flood damage.
• Disconnect electrical appliances and do not touch electrical equipment if you are wet or standing in water. You could be electrocuted.
• If instructed, turn off your gas and electricity at the main switch or valve. This helps prevent fires and explosions.

Flood Warning

Flood Warning = "Take Action!"  Flooding is either happening or will happen shortly.

Steps to Take

• Move immediately to higher ground or stay on high ground.
• Evacuate if directed.
• Avoid walking or driving through flood waters. Turn Around, Don’t Drown! Just 6 inches of moving water can knock you down and one foot of moving water can sweep your vehicle away.

All thunderstorms are dangerous. Every thunderstorm produces lightning. While lightning fatalities have decreased over the past 30 years, lightning continues to be one of the top three storm-related killers in the United States. On average in the U.S., lightning kills 51 people and injures hundreds more. Although most lightning victims survive, people struck by lightning often report a variety of long-term, debilitating symptoms.

Other associated dangers of thunderstorms include tornadoes, strong winds, hail and flash flooding. Flash flooding is responsible for more fatalities – more than 140 annually – than any other thunderstorm-associated hazard. Dry thunderstorms that do not produce rain that reaches the ground are most prevalent in the western United States. Falling raindrops evaporate, but lightning can still reach the ground and can start wildfires.

To prepare for a thunderstorm, you should do the following:

• To begin preparing, you should build an emergency kit and make a family communications plan.
• Remove dead or rotting trees and branches that could fall and cause injury or damage during a severe thunderstorm.
• Postpone outdoor activities.
• Secure outdoor objects that could blow away or cause damage.
• Get inside a home, building, or hard top automobile (not a convertible). Although you may be injured if lightning strikes your car, you are much safer inside a vehicle than outside.
• Remember, rubber-soled shoes and rubber tires provide NO protection from lightning. However, the steel frame of a hard-topped vehicle provides increased protection if you are not touching metal.
• Shutter windows and secure outside doors. If shutters are not available, close window blinds, shades or curtains.
• Unplug any electronic equipment well before the storm arrives.

Lightning Risk Reduction When Outdoors

If you are in a forest then, seek shelter in a low area under a thick growth of small trees.

In an open area, go to a low place such as a ravine or valley. Be alert for flash floods.

On open water, get to land and find shelter immediately.

Facts about Lightning

• Lightning’s unpredictability increases the risk to individuals and property.
• Lightning often strikes outside of heavy rain and may occur as far as 10 miles away from any rainfall.
• “Heat lightning” is actually lightning from a thunderstorm too far away from thunder to be heard. However, the storm may be moving in your direction.
• Most lightning deaths and injuries occur when people are caught outdoors in the summer months during the afternoon and evening.
• Your chances of being struck by lightning are estimated to be 1 in 600,000 but could be reduced even further by following safety precautions.
• Lightning strike victims carry no electrical charge and should be attended to immediately.

During Thunderstorms and Lightning

If thunderstorm and lightning are occurring in your area, you should:

• Use your battery-operated NOAA Weather Radio for updates from local officials.
• Avoid contact with corded phones and devices including those plugged into electric for recharging.  Cordless and wireless phones not connected to wall outlets are OK to use.
• Avoid contact with electrical equipment or cords. Unplug appliances and other electrical items such as computers and turn off air conditioners. Power surges from lightning can cause serious damage.
• Avoid contact with plumbing. Do not wash your hands, do not take a shower, do not wash dishes, and do not do laundry. Plumbing and bathroom fixtures can conduct electricity.
• Stay away from windows and doors, and stay off porches.
• Do not lie on concrete floors and do not lean against concrete walls.
• Avoid natural lightning rods such as a tall, isolated tree in an open area.
• Avoid hilltops, open fields, the beach or a boat on the water.
• Take shelter in a sturdy building. Avoid isolated sheds or other small structures in open areas.
• Avoid contact with anything metal—tractors, farm equipment, motorcycles, golf carts, golf clubs, and bicycles.
• If you are driving, try to safely exit the roadway and park. Stay in the vehicle and turn on the emergency flashers until the heavy rain ends. Avoid touching metal or other surfaces that conduct electricity in and outside the vehicle.

This page explains what actions to take when you receive a tornado watch or warning alert from the National Weather Service for your local area and what to do before, during, and after a tornado.

REGIONAL EMERGENCY ALERT NETWORK (REAN)

We encourage residents to register for the Regional Emergency Alert Network (REAN) system.

Understanding Tornado Alerts

• Tornado Watch: Be Prepared! Tornadoes are possible in and near the watch area. Review and discuss your emergency plans and check supplies and your safe room. Be ready to act quickly if a warning is issued or you suspect a tornado is approaching. Acting early helps to save lives! Watches are issued by the Storm Prediction Center for counties where tornadoes may occur. The watch area is typically large, covering numerous counties or even states.
• Tornado Warning: Take Action! A tornado has been sighted or indicated by weather radar. There is imminent danger to life and property. Move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building. Avoid windows. If in a mobile home, a vehicle, or outdoors, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris. Warnings are issued by your local forecast office. Warnings typically encompass a much smaller area (around the size of a city or small county) that may be impacted by a tornado identified by a forecaster on radaror by a trained spotter/law enforcement who is watching the storm.

Tornado Facts

A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that extends from a thunderstorm to the ground and is often—although not always—visible as a funnel cloud. Lightening and hail are common in thunderstorms that produce tornadoes. Tornadoes cause extensive damage to structures and disrupt transportation, power, water, gas, communications, and other services in its direct path and in neighboring areas. Related thunderstorms can cause heavy rains, flash flooding, and hail. 

About 1,200 tornadoes hit the United States every year and every state is at risk. Most tornadoes in the United States occur east of the Rocky Mountains with concentrations in the central and southern plains, the Gulf Coast and Florida.

The extent of destruction caused by tornadoes depends on the tornado’s intensity, size, path, time of day, and amount of time it is on the ground. Wind from tornadoes can reach more than 300 miles per hour, and damage paths can be more than 1 mile wide and 50 miles long. Wind from tornadoes can destroy buildings and trees, transform debris into deadly projectiles, and roll vehicles.

• They may strike quickly, with little or no warning.
• They may appear nearly transparent until dust and debris are picked up or a cloud forms in the funnel.
• The average tornado moves Southwest to Northeast, but tornadoes have been known to move in any direction.
• Tornadoes can accompany tropical storms and hurricanes as they move onto land.
• Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water.

During a Tornado

If you are under a tornado warning, seek shelter immediately!  Most injuries associated with high winds are from flying debris, so remember to protect your head.

At Your House: If you are in a tornado warning, go to your basement, safe room, or an interior room away from windows. Don’t forget pets if time allows.

If you are in school, nursing home, hospital, factory, shopping center, high-rise building pre-identified best available refuge then:        

• Go to a pre-designated area such as a safe room built to FEMA criteria, or a small interior windowless room on the lowest level, below ground in a basement, or storm cellar, is best. (closet, interior hallway) away from corners, windows, doors, and outside walls. Put as many walls as possible between you and the outside. Get under a sturdy table and cover your head and neck with your arms and cover your body as best you can e.g., with a heavy coat or blankets, pillows. .
• In a high-rise building, go to a small interior room or hallway on the lowest floor possible.
• Do not open windows.
• A sturdy structure (e.g. residence, small building) , school, nursing home, hospital, factory, shopping center, high-rise building)

In a vehicle: Being in a vehicle during a tornado is not safe. The best course of action is to drive to the closest shelter. If you are unable to make it to a safe shelter, either get down in your car and cover your head, or abandon your car and seek shelter in a low lying area such as a ditch or ravine.

The outside with no shelter then:

• If you are not in a sturdy building, there is no single research-based recommendation for what last-resort action to take because many factors can affect your decision. Possible actions include:
• Immediately get into a vehicle, buckle your seat belt and try to drive to the closest sturdy shelter. If your vehicle is hit by flying debris while you are driving, pull over and park.
• Take cover in a stationary vehicle. Put the seat belt on and cover your head with your arms and a blanket, coat or other cushion if possible.
• In all situations:
• Do not get under an overpass or bridge. You are safer in a low, flat location.
• Never try to outrun a tornado in urban or congested areas in a car or truck. Instead, leave the vehicle immediately for protection in a sturdy building. .
• Outdoor areas are not protected from flying debris. Flying debris from tornadoes causes most fatalities and injuries.

After a Tornado

• If you are trapped, do not move about or kick up dust. Tap on a pipe or wall or use a whistle, if you have one, so that rescuers can locate you.
• Listen to local officials for updates and instructions.
• Check-in with family and friends by texting or using social media.
• Watch out for debris and downed power lines.
• Stay out of damaged buildings and homes until local authorities indicate it is safe.
• Use extreme caution during post-disaster clean-up of buildings and around debris. Do not attempt to remove heavy debris by yourself. Wear protective clothing, including a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, work gloves, and sturdy, thick-soled shoes during clean-up.
• Photograph the damage to your property in order to assist in filing an insurance claim.
• Do what you can to prevent further damage to your property, (e.g., putting a tarp on a damaged roof), as insurance may not cover additional damage that occurs after the storm.
• If your home is without power, use flashlights or battery-powered lanterns rather than candles to prevent accidental fires.

BE PREPARED FOR A TORNADO

• Wear several layers of loose-fitting, lightweight, warm clothing instead of one heavy layer. 
• Ensure that outer garments are water-repellent.
• Ensure that your heating source is working properly and that is well ventilated. It is important to have it serviced regularly.
• Avoid driving on overpasses and bridges. These often freeze more quickly than roads.
• Winterize your car. Flush the cooling system, replace the coolant, the wiper blades, etc. Create a Go Kit for your car in case you are stranded.
• Winterize your pipes and keep faucets dripping when the temperature falls below freezing. 
• Ensure that you animals have plenty of food, water and shelter for extreme weather conditions.

You Are the Help Until Help Arrives

Learn five simple steps that may save a life

• Call 9-1-1
• Stay Safe
• Stop the Bleeding
• Position the Injured
• Provide Comfort

Life-threatening emergencies can happen fast and emergency responders aren’t always nearby.
You may be able to save a life by taking simple actions immediately.

Schertz Emergency Medical Services provides community "Stop the Bleed" courses 6 times a year.

Register for a course