All of us can learn a valuable lesson from the tragedy that has unfolded in Texas with the horrific flooding
All of us can learn a valuable lesson from the tragedy that has unfolded in Texas with the horrific flooding
All of us can learn a valuable lesson from the tragedy that has unfolded in Texas with the horrific flooding.
People don't have a proper understanding of what a watch is, whether it is a flash flood watch, a severe thunderstorm watch, or a tornado watch. A flash flood watch was issued by the National Weather Service for the counties hit by flooding in Texas 15 hours prior to the event. People think a watch means, go about your business and listen for a warning. That is NOT what it means.
A watch means conditions are right for a specified weather event, in this case a flash flood, which we will do our best to warn you about but it may happen before a warning can be issued. Be on guard and if you are in a flood prone area, you may want to get out BEFORE any flooding occurs. Don't camp or hang out, especially when you are sleeping, in a flood prone location during a flash flood watch.
The same thing is true for severe thunderstorm watches and tornado watches. The watch means that atmospheric conditions are favorable for those events to occur. There is a good chance you will get a warning but that cannot be guaranteed. If a wild thunderstorm is under way, don't assume that it will not be severe or even that there will not be a tornado just because you haven't heard a warning. If the weather looks like it's becoming severe, treat it like a severe thunderstorm. You don't need a siren to tell you.
In the case of the Texas flooding, a watch was issued 15 hours before the flooding occurred. A flash flood warning was issued 3 hours before the flooding occurred but it was overnight and many people were asleep, in the floodplain, and did not hear it. The event was underway when the flash flood emergency was issued but even that was issued in time to alert some people to get out of the way. Again, anybody who was not already in the flood was probably asleep and did not hear it.
A lot of hyperbole and rhetoric is flying around on the Internet about the National Weather Service not doing a good job with this event or Trump administration budget cuts being responsible for the horrific nature of the event. There are even more ridiculous claims flying around that secret government weather modification is responsible. All of that is rubbish. This is not the first time the Guadalupe River has had a serious flood event. In fact, it is not even the worst flood event for that section of the river from a historical perspective although this may end up being the most deadly.
The tragedy in Texas is not the result of bad political decisions or secret weather modification. It is, rather, the result of an extreme rainfall event over a geographical location which is particularly prone to flash flooding. It is also the result of people not understanding the gravity or the meaning of watches issued by the National Weather Service.
If there is any lesson to be learned here it might be that the National Weather Service needs to do a better job of explaining what a watch is and local officials need to do a better job of disseminating watches and warnings and alerting people about the dangers of sleeping, camping, or recreating in a flash flood prone area when flash flooding is a distinct possibility.
The broader lesson is that all of us need to learn what a watch is whether it is a flash flood watch, a tornado watch, a severe thunderstorm watch, or any other watch.
