This problem is increasingly common and can occur a number of ways, two of which are discussed below: Severe Weather Event Sixty-eight of those tornado/flash flood combination events (TORFF) were confirmed between 20, according to Lance Wood, Science Operations Officer at NWS Houston. Research done at Colorado State University "reveals that every year about 400 tornado and flash-flood warnings are issued within 30 minutes of each other for the same area, which was more frequent than expected," according to a paper released in Physics Today in 2016. Residents living along streams and creeks should take immediate precautions to protect life and property. If you are in the warned area move to higher ground immediately. If you are outdoors, in a mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris.įlash Flood Warning (This is what you should do in "Town C" above): TAKE COVER NOW! Move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building. Tornado Warning (This is what you should do in "Town A" above): Take for instance the following "Call to Action" statements that are often found in warnings across the country: Warnings are issued for both flash floods and tornadoes, but these two warnings, when in effect for the same location at the same time, offer contradictory advice. And each person's individual circumstances at that moment will determine what they should do." One of these responses was from Rick Smith, the Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Norman, Oklahoma: "If it were me, I would have to weigh which threat poses the most danger to me at that moment and react to that. The responses that we received were somewhat scatter-brained, but centered on trying to evaluate your own situation to see what the best thing is for you to do. Well, we asked around the National Weather Service to see if there was an official direction in this situation. Your decision may be different from your neighbor's decision, but both may be correct depending on your situation.Ī hypothetical situation where a tornado warning and a flash flood warning are issued at the same time for the same location. Make sure to make this decision as quickly as possible after a warning is issued because time is usually running out. If flooding is ongoing, you should go to the most interior room of the lowest dry level in your home.Īs always, never stay in a mobile home if severe weather is headed in your direction. So what do you do if you live in hypothetical Town B, shown below, if you're being faced with both a tornado and a flash flood warning?Īs long as flooding is not an imminent threat, as in water is already quickly approaching or coming into your house, you should move to the most interior room of the lowest level of your home or building. The simple answer is to go into your interior-most room on the lowest floor of your house as you would in a tornado warning, but this is not always the best answer. This is an increasingly problematic and common scenario in some parts of the country, and the answer is not easy. Where do you go? Do you climb to your roof or into the basement, and which threat takes priority? Facing a tornado and flash flooding can be terrifying, and when you put the two potentially deadly threats together, it can be paralyzing.
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