Severe Weather Safety Tips

Spring is teasing us here in West Tennessee this week with temperatures that are in the 70s and even into the 80s by the end of this week. Those of you who live in this area of the Mid-South know that spring storms and tornadoes can be pretty strong here - so let's take a little time to review some safety tips that I borrowed from the Texas Severe Storms Association (TESSA):

Tornadoes

Tornadoes can produce winds greater than 300 mph, and can travel across the ground at up to 60 mph. They can develop any time of day, any month of the year, but are most common in the afternoon and evening, and in the spring and fall. Tornadoes are most common across the Great Plains and Gulf States regions of the US. More tornadoes occur in the United States than any other country in the world, and more tornadoes occur in Texas than any other state.

Below-ground shelters, and reinforced "safe rooms" provide the best protection against tornadic winds.

Other options include:

In homes or small buildings, go to the northeast corner of a basement. If a basement is not available, go to the smallest, most-interior room on the lowest floor, such as a closet or bathroom. Cover yourself to protect your body from flying debris.

In schools, hospitals, factories or shopping centers, go to the smallest, most-interior rooms and hallways on the lowest floor. Stay away from glass enclosed places or areas with wide-span roofs such as auditoriums and warehouses. Crouch down and cover your head.

In high rise buildings, go to the smallest, most-interior rooms or hallways. Stay away from exterior walls and windows.

In cars or mobile homes, abandon them immediately!! Cars and mobile homes provide no protection from tornadic winds. If you are in either of those locations, leave them and go to a substantial structure or designated tornado shelter. Do not attempt to seek shelter beneath an overpass or bridge. They provide little or no shelter and have proved to be deadly options.

If caught in the open, lie flat in a culvert, ditch or depression and cover your head.

Lightning

Lightning is a threat anywhere thunderstorms occur. If you hear thunder, it is time to take shelter.

When inside:

- Avoid using the telephone, or other electrical appliances.
- Do not take a bath or shower, or stand near plumbing.

If caught outdoors:

- Seek shelter in a sturdy building. A hard-top automobile can also offer protection.
- If you are boating or swimming, get out of the water and move to a safe shelter on land.
- If you are in a wooded area, seek shelter under a thick growth of relatively small trees.
- If you feel your hair standing on end, squat with your head between your knees. Do not lie flat!
- Avoid isolated trees or other tall objects, water, fences, convertible cars, tractors and motorcycles.

Flash Floods

Flash Floods develop quickly. They can occur anywhere, along rivers or creeks, in low water crossings or in a dry stream bed. They can occur during any month and at any time during the day. In fact, flash floods often occur at night when it is difficult to find an escape route. Flash floods can be deceptive. Flood waters are likely deeper and moving faster than you think.

When driving:

- Avoid low water crossings.
- Use alternate routes to avoid flood prone areas.
- Leave your vehicle immediately if it stalls in flood waters.
- Move to higher ground if you can do so safely.
- Most cars and light trucks will begin to float in as little as 12 inches of water.
- Act quickly, rising waters make vehicle doors difficult to open.

If you are outside:

- Everyone, especially children, should stay away from flooded creeks, streams or drainage ditches.
- Swiftly flowing water can quickly sweep away even the strongest swimmers.
- Soggy banks can collapse, dumping you into flood waters.

March Survival Boards Giveaways Total $6000!

Here's the info for this month's fantastic giveaways from the guys at Safecastle and Survivalist Boards. There will be 363 winners and a total of $6000 in giveaways. All you have to do to enter is follow the instructions I'm sharing below. NOTE - there are some DAILY giveaways - so read carefully and GO TO SURVIVALIST BOARDS to enter, not on this post. Good luck!

~~~March Giveaway Info~~~

Safecastle Royal Buyers Club—The Premier Crisis Preparedness Buyers Club in the World

SurvivalistBoards.com is the most dynamic preparedness-related forums on the internet today, in my opinion. I’m sure many of you agree.

I’m Vic--owner of one of the fastest growing crisis-preparedness companies in the business, Safecastle LLC. I just want to say I am excited to become a supporting part of this online community. We’ve been around a good long time and we are recognized far and wide as providing some of the very best products and value anywhere in the preparedness marketplace. We stand behind our products and with our customers all the way.

Joining up with Kev and all the rest of you, we wanted to make a nice statement about our commitment. As such, I decided to go big in this March Giveaway, with retail value of Safecastle prizes awarded exceeding $6000.

Here’s the deal …

A total of 363 prize winners ...

1. Free Lifetime Safecastle Royal Buyers Club Memberships--10 awarded each day thru the month of March (value $29 each)

2. One book awarded each day thru the month – (cycling thru from among):

Tom Brown's Field Guide--"City and Suburban Survival" ($17);
"How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It," by James Wesley, Rawles ($19);
"Survival Handbook, Essential Skills for Outdoor Adventure,” hardcover ($33).

3. Two Smith & Wesson assisted opening knives--$45 value each

4. Four $50 Safecastle Royal Gift Certificates

5. Two Katadyn Vario water filters--$90 value each

6. Two Bury 'Em Tubes -- choice of 6M, 6S, or 6L-- value $175-200 each

7. One Voltaic Converter Solar Backpack—value $207

8. One 9-Tray Excalibur Dehydrator, 3900 Model, black--value $275

9. Four Cases of Storage food--winner's choice (one case for each of four winners)--each case, value of up to $325

10. One Quik-Pak Foldable Bike Trailer—value $350

11. Two QUEST Mission Rigs--value $400 each

12. One Country Living Grain Mill--$456 value


13. And for our friends in Canada—two cases of Mountain House food (one case for each of two winners in Canada) winner’s choice as listed in our Canadian MH listings – (be sure to indicate you are in Canada in your thread posts)—each case, up to a value of $220.

How it will go down …

1. Winners will be selected randomly from among those board members who post to this thread during the applicable prize period (that day or week).
2. Winners will be notified by SurvivalistBoard Private Message. You must respond within one week or your prize will be forfeited and awarded to someone else.
3. One prize per board member … except, those who are awarded a lifetime buyers club membership are eligible to also win one of the other prizes.
4. Prizes are non-transferrable and cannot be exchanged for other merchandise or cash value.
5. We respect our customers’ privacy. As such, we will only post the board name of the prize winners IF they give the OK to do so. We will, however, provide a full list of the winners’ board names to Kev to ensure that all prizes are indeed awarded fairly.

What you should do to participate …

1. Post a comment to the thread no more often than once daily. Every day, 10 winners will be selected from that day’s posters and awarded buyers club memberships, and one winner will receive that day’s survival-related book.


Also, every Wednesday evening in March, at 6pm Eastern time, weekly winners will be selected from that week’s posts and awarded prizes as indicated below:

March 3:
2 Smith & Wesson assisted opening knives
2 $50 Safecastle Gift Certificates


March 10:
2 $50 Safecastle Gift Certificates
2 Katadyn Vario Water Filters


March 17:
2 Bury ‘Em Tubes
1 Voltaic Converter Backpack
1 9-Tray Excalibur Dehydrator, 3900 Model
1 Mountain House case – Canada


March 24:
4 cases of storage food


March 31:
1 Quik-Pak Foldable Bike Trailer
2 QUEST Mission Rigs
1 Country Living Grain Mill
1 Mountain House case – Canada

Travel Safety for Women

During my "corporate" years, I used to travel around the U.S. 5 days a week for about 7 years. At our quarterly meetings with my associates I would always have a "travel safety" talk - things that are pretty simple but not always thought of. Most of my associates were females traveling alone like I did, so most of this is geared toward the ladies:

~ make sure the front desk clerk doesn't "announce" your room number loud enough for all those standing in line around you to hear, especially if you are a female traveling alone. If they do, politely ask for a different room and tell them why so maybe they'll be more security conscious in the future.

~ as a female traveling alone, I always wanted a room above the 2nd floor.

~ when ordering room service - never let the door close all the way - make it prop open and stand closer to the open door, not the interior of the room, while the meal is being delivered and set up.

~ always study the exit maps and know where the exits are.

~ count how many doors are between you and the exits in both directions. Should you need to find your way out in the dark or by crawling, you can count doors as you go. Same goes for on airplanes - know how many seats are between you and the exits in front of and behind you.

~ always keep a flashlight and your room key handy on the nightstand by your bed in your hotel in case you have to leave in an emergency. same goes for shoes and id.

~ when getting in an elevator - never get in if you feel the least bit uncomfortable with those already on, wait for the next one. If you are already on and someone gets in that gives you a bad feeling - stand near the buttons and get off at the next floor - then take another elevator. Pay attention to your gut instincts.

~ have your keys in your hand and ready when using parking garages, airport parking, etc. Pay attention to your surroundings.

There are lots more, but these were the ones I talked about the most and most are equally applicable to men. If you have a tip you'd like to share - please do!