Emergency Preparedness Program

 

Thunderstorm

 

Prepare for a Severe Thunderstorm

• Pick a safe place in your home to gather during a thunderstorm.

• Have a portable radio, flashlights and fresh batteries handy.

• Know the location of your electricity circuit box and how to turn the power on and off.

• Learn about your community's warning system for severe thunderstorms.

• Prepare your family for thunderstorms.

Prepare your home for thunderstorms

• Make a list items to bring inside in the event of a severe thunderstorm.

• Keep trees and shrubbery trimmed.  Strong winds frequently break week limbs and hurl them at great speed.

• Remove any debris or loose items from around your home and outbuildings from pastures.

• Consider installing permanent shutters to cover windows.

• Ensure that any outbuildings, pastures or corrals that house animals are protected in the same way as your home.

• Install lightening rods on your home and barn or any other building that house animals.

• Check your insurance coverage.

During a Thunderstorm Watch

• Stay informed.  Listen to local radio or television stations for updates.

• Avoid natural lightning rods, such as golf clubs, fishing poles, tractors, bicycles, and camping equipment.  Lightning is attracted to metal and poles or rods.

• Prepare to take shelter.  A sturdy building is the safest place to be during a severe thunderstorm.

If a sever thunderstorm is approaching:

• Secure outdoor objects such as lawn furniture that could blow away or cause damage or injury.

• Bring pets indoors.

• If possible, bring horses and livestock into your barn.

• Shutter windows and close outside doors securely.

• Avoid electrical equipment and telephones.  Lightning could follow the wire.

• Avoid bathtubs, water faucets, and sinks because metal pipes can transmit electricity.

 

During a Severe Thunderstorm Warning

• Stay informed.  Listen to local radio or television stations on a battery-powered radio or television for updates.

• Draw blinds and shades over windows.  If windows break because of blowing objects or large hail, the shades will prevent glass from shattering into your home.

• Unplug appliances and avoid using the telephone or any electrical device. Leaving electric lights on, however, does not increase the chances of your home being struck by lightning.

• Avoid taking a bath or shower, or running water for any other purpose.

• Turn off the air conditioner.  Power surges from lightning can overload the compressor, resulting in costly repairs.

• Calm your pets.

If Outside and a Severe Thunderstorm is Approaching

• If you are boating or swimming, get to land, get off the beach and find shelter immediately.

• Take shelter in a substantial, permanent, enclosed structure. 

• If there is no reinforced building in sight, take shelter in a vehicle.

• If you are in the woods, find an area protected by a low clump of trees.

• As a last resort, go to a low-lying, open place away from trees, poles, or metal objects.

• Avoid tall structures, such as towers, tall trees, fences, telephone lines, and power lines.  Lightning strikes the tallest objects in an area.

• Avoid natural lightning rods, such as golf clubs, fishing poles, tractors, bicycles, and camping equipment.  Lightning is attracted to metal and poles or rods.

• If you are isolated area level field and feel your hair stand on end (which indicates that lightning is about to strike), crouch low to the ground on the balls of your feet.

 

If Driving During a Severe Thunderstorm or Heavy Rain

• Pull safely onto the shoulder of the road and stop, making sure you are away from any trees or other tall objects that could fall on the vehicle.

• Stay in the vehicle and turn on the emergency flashers until the heavy rain subsides.

• Avoid contact with metal or other conducting surfaces outside or inside the vehicle.

• Be alert for flooding.

 

If Someone is Struck by Lightning

• Call 911 for help.

• Give first aid.  People struck by lightning carry no electrical charge that can shock other people, and they can be handled safely.
  

 

After a Severe Thunderstorm

• Stay informed.  Listen to local radio or television stations for updates.

• Help people who require special assistance.

• Stay away from storm-damaged areas.

• Watch out for fallen power lines and report them immediately to the appropriate authorities.

 

Definitions

Lightning is a discharge of electricity from within a thunderstorm. Macomb County experiences 30-40 thunderstorm days per year, which translates to thousands of lightning strikes. Lightning damages many structures and kills and injures more people in the United States per year, on average, than tornadoes or hurricanes.

Hail storms occur when water particles from thunderstorms form into rounded or irregular lumps of ice that fall to the earth. Hail is formed when strong updrafts within the storm carry water droplets above the freezing level, where they remain suspended and continue to grow larger until their weight can no longer be supported by the winds. Most hailstones range in size from a pea to a golf ball, but hailstones larger than baseballs have occurred with the most severe thunderstorms. Hail is most frequent during May through September.

Sleet is similar to hail only smaller. It is small frozen rain drops (ice pellets) which bounce when hitting the ground or other objects. Sleet does not stick to trees and wires but sleet in sufficient depth does cause hazardous driving conditions.

Ice storms are the result of cold rain that freezes on contact with the surface, coating the ground, trees buildings, overhead wires and other exposed objects with ice, sometimes causing hazardous conditions and/or property damage.


Learn More:

• Thunderstorms and Lightning (Ready America)

• Thunderstorms and Lightning (FEMA)

• Are You Ready for a Thunderstorm? (American Red Cross)

• Lightning Safety (National Weather Service)

• Thunderstorms and Lightning - A Preparedness Guide (National Weather Service)

• Thunderstorms…Tornadoes…Lightning…A Preparedness Guide (National Weather Service)

 

 

Source: Talking About Disaster: Guide for Standard Messages. Washington, D.C., 2007

Information is not intended to be a substitute for appropriate medical advice.  Links to external sites do not constitute endorsements by Macomb County.

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