How should we defend against severe convective weather? How can we avoid dangers from typhoons, heavy rains, floods, mudslides, etc.? Here is a guide to discerning and managing risks in severe convective weather.
Preparing for the unexpected
A significant or severe weather condition is characterized by suddenness, severity, and disastrousness, usually accompanied by thunderstorms, strong winds, hail, tornadoes, and local heavy rainfall.
Possible damages
● Short-term heavy rainfall may give rise to secondary disasters such as flash floods, mudslides, and urban waterlogging.
● Tornadoes may cause casualties of people and animals, downed trees and power lines, and damage to buildings.
● Thunderstorms and strong winds may bring about casualties, building collapse, and affect working at heights, on water, and navigation.
● Hail can have adverse effects on crops and agricultural facilities.
What are the occurrence times of severe convective weather?
● Short-term heavy rainfall can be seen all year round, mostly in spring, summer, and autumn.
● Thunderstorms and strong winds mostly occur in spring, summer, and autumn, and are rarely seen in winter.
● Tornadoes generally occur during the transition season between spring and summer or between summer and autumn (April to October), with the former being more common.
● Hail mostly occurs from February to May when cold and warm air meet fiercely, and it may also fall in strong and long-lasting thunderstorms in midsummer.
What to do before a typhoon arrives?
1. Pay attention to weather broadcasts to stay up to date on the current situation, and make security arrangements in advance.
2. Leave hazardous areas in time.
3. To reduce the danger of objects falling from a height, remove items from the balcony and condense amenities.
4. Fix doors and windows to avoid further dangers.
5. Prepare emergency supplies, such as food, drinking water, flashlights, and candles.
6. Do not go out unless necessary, and stop all outdoor group activities and large indoor gatherings.
How to protect yourself when a typhoon lands?
1. Remain indoors.
2. Be vigilant to protect your safety.
3. Check whether doors and windows are well-fixed, close windows, and put away things that might cause falling objects from a height.
4. Check the safety of the gas and electrical systems.
5. Prepare emergency supplies, such as medications, especially if there are patients.
6. Stay away from tall buildings and avoid walking beside the dykes of open waters.
What are the disease risks after natural disasters?
Pay attention to disease control and prevention of foodborne diseases, waterborne diseases and infectious diseases after a typhoon.
● Contamination of drinking water
Waterborne diseases (infectious diarrhea, dysentery, cholera, typhoid, and hepatitis A)
● Food contamination or spoilage
Foodborne diseases (microbial reproduction, and pollution of pesticides, rodenticides, pesticides, and heavy metals)
● Crowded makeshift settlements
Measles, acute respiratory infection, tuberculosis, meningitis, acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis, and skin diseases.
● Increased exposure of the population to vectors or infested water
Malaria, dengue fever, encephalitis B, plague, leptospirosis, epidemic haemorrhagic fever, and schistosomiasis.
● Decreased immunity and psychological trauma
Tuberculosis, mental disease, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
What should you do after a typhoon?
● Pay attention to hygiene
After a disaster, pay special attention to personal hygiene and food hygiene, keep your hands clean, and report to the local health authorities in time if you find sick or dead livestock.
● Clean up the environment
Thoroughly clean up the indoor and outdoor environment, and the areas that are still flooded should be disinfected after the water recedes.
● Clean stagnant water
Drain stagnant water, fill up potholes, and try to avoid wading barefoot.
● Prevent mosquitoes and flies
Use mosquito coils, electric swatters, screen doors, windows, and so on to deter or exterminate mosquitoes and flies.
● Go to the doctor when it's needed
Once you have a fever, rash, diarrhea, and other uncomfortable symptoms, seek medical attention in time.
What to do when a house is flooded?
● Turn off the power to prevent electric shocks.
● Move electrical sockets, switches, etc. to a safe place more than one meter above the ground.
● If you live in a low-lying yard, bungalow, or basement, you are advised to build fences, place water barriers at doorways, and deploy small pumps to reinforce low-lying houses.
What to do if you encounter flash floods?
● If you are near a river, you should follow the predetermined route to the hillside, high ground, etc., and do not stay by the river.
● If you are surrounded by floodwaters, use boats, wooden rafts, door panels, wooden beds, etc. to move on the water as much as possible.
● If you are in the mountains, please do not cross the river, and do not stay on loose mountain land to prevent being washed away by flash floods.
● Please be alert to abnormal sounds such as landslides and roaring floods coming from a distance. When you encounter mudslides and landslides, you should immediately run to the high places on both sides of the ditch bank.
● A safe disaster shelter site should be selected in a section with gentle slopes, complete and stable ground soil and rock, and no scouring by running water.
How to escape from being trapped in a car?
● When the vehicle sinks into the water, the front of the vehicle will first reach the bottom of the water, and the air will accumulate in the rear of the vehicle. Please open the door or smash the window as much as possible to escape.
● Open the central lock immediately after the vehicle falls into the water to prevent malfunction. If you can open the door, please open the door quickly to escape.
● When the water level is at one-third of the door, the door is easy to open, and you can directly open the door to escape.
● When the water level has reached the window but not higher than the window, the door cannot be opened, and you can escape from the sunroof or side window.
What are the self-rescue equipment items?
Please prepare food, water, a flashlight, a whistle, first aid medicine, and other emergency items as much as possible when you go out in rainy weather. Residents who live in areas prone to flash floods and flood disasters should always prepare radio equipment, such as radios, so that they can receive external information as early as possible.
What if rescue cannot be obtained in time?
Carry mobile communication devices with you as much as possible and send out distress messages in time.
Pay attention to rescue platform information, and rescue organizations. When the rescue team cannot reach the rescue site in time, the rescue information and location can be sent in time through network rescue channels opened by the government, schools, and other institutions.
Reporter | Monica, Alice, Hannah, Abby
Editor | Olivia, Steven, Monica, James
