Colorado has more than its fair share of floods, flash floods, and wildfires. Last year was particularly devastating, with numerous wildfires and many areas experiencing floods. During the past week, in our effort to build a Weather-Ready nation, we have presented information to you on how to stay safe and minimize property damage during flood and wildfire threats.
When a flash flood warning is issued for your area, you need to quickly move to higher ground out of drainages or other low spots. It may be just a short run or climb to that higher ground.
Nearly half of all flash flood fatalities occur in vehicles. Do not drive through a flooded roadway. Instead turn around, do not drown. The water may be much deeper than you think because it may not be possible to see below the surface of flood waters that the roadway has been washed away. One to two feet of water will carry away most vehicles. Additional flood safety information can be found at www.floodsafety.noaa.gov.
Areas burned by wildfires are highly susceptible to flash floods, especially within the first two or three years after the wildfire has occurred. Wildfires by themselves destroy much property and occasionally result in fatalities within Colorado. There are actions you can take to protect yourself and minimize the wildfire threat to your property.
If you live near or within a forest or rangeland you are encouraged to make a defensible space around your home and other structures. Information on how to make a defensible space around your home can be found on the Colorado State Forest Service website at http://csfs.colostate.edu/pages/defensible-space.html.
River flooding from snowmelt or persistent rainfall can cause extensive damage to property. There are estimated to be 65,000 homes and 15,000 commercial, industrial and business structures in identified floodplains within Colorado. FEMA has online maps that show if you are in a flood risk area. To access those maps go to https://msc.fema.gov.
If you live in a flood prone area, buying flood insurance is the best thing you can do to protect your home, your business, your family and your financial security. To find an insurance agent and obtain other flood insurance information, go to FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program web site at www.floodsmart.gov. As a reminder there is generally a 30-day waiting period from the time a flood insurance policy is purchased to when it goes into effect.
Additional information on floods and wildfires is available from your local National Weather Service web sites.
Preparedness and safety tips are available on floods, wildfires and other hazards in Colorado on the Colorado Division of Homeland Security’s community preparedness website: www.READYColorado.com. Information is also posted daily on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/READYColorado and on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/READYColorado.
This blog was written by Jim Pringle, Warning Coordination Meteorologist, WFO Grand Junction
Showing posts with label CSFS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CSFS. Show all posts
Colorado Flood Safety and Wildfire Awareness Week: Wildfire Safety and Mitigation
During this Colorado Flood Safety
and Wildfire Awareness Week we have discussed floods, flash floods and how to
stay safe when flooding threatens. We
also told you that areas burned by wildfires are highly susceptible to flash
floods within the first two or three years after the wildfire.
Today we will provide you with
the information about wildfire safety and mitigation that could save your life
and minimize destruction to your personal property.
Colorado experienced some very
devastating wildfires in 2013, including the Black Forest Fire, Royal Gorge
Fire, and the West Fork Complex Fire which burned over 100,000 acres of forest.
Two people were killed and over 500 houses were destroyed from the Black Forest
Wildfire.
All wildfires need fuel to burn,
typically in the form of dry vegetation, as often occurs in forests, grasslands
and cured wheat fields. Tragically, some
wildfires also kill people and destroy homes, vehicles and other personal
property. If you live near or within a
forest, grassland or wheat field, there are some actions you can take to
minimize your vulnerability to wildfires.
Homeowner Mitigation
If you are a homeowner, the first
defense against wildfire is to create and maintain a defensible space around
your home. Defensible space is that area
around a home or other structure where fuels and vegetation are treated,
cleared or reduced to slow the spread of wildfire. Creating wildfire defensible zones also
reduces the chance of a structure fire spreading to neighboring homes or the
surrounding forest. Defensible space
also provides room for firefighters to do their jobs when fighting a wildfire.
More information on how to make a
defensible space around your home can be found on the Colorado State Forest
Service website at HTTP://CSFS.COLOSTATE.EDU/PAGES/DEFENSIBLE-SPACE.HTML
Wildfire Safety Tips
During periods of extreme fire
danger in forests and rangelands:
- You should check fire restrictions at http://www.coemergency.com/p/fire-bans-danger.html
- You should avoid being in areas where you might become trapped by a wildfire.
- You should avoid the use of matches or anything else which could ignite a fire.
- You should make sure that hot parts of motorized equipment, such as mufflers, are not allowed to come in contact with dry grasses or other potentially flammable material.
- If you become trapped or cut off by a wildfire see shelter in areas with little or no fuel such as rock slide areas or lakes.
For more information on wildfires
and fire safety please check out the following web sites:
- https://www.readycolorado.com/hazard/wildfire
- HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/RIDGE2/FIRE/
- HTTP://CSFS.COLOSTATE.EDU/
- HTTP://WWW.NIFC.GOV
Colorado Flood Safety and
Wildfire Awareness Week continues through this Saturday.
This blog written by Jim Pringle,
Warning Coordination Meteorologist, WFO Grand Junction
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