FEMA, NOAA Sponsor National Flood Safety Awareness Week

LINCROFT, N.J. — The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association are sponsoring National Flood Safety Awareness Week from March 16-22, 2014.

NOAA and FEMA are reviving the “Be a Force of Nature: Take the Next Step” awareness theme from National Severe Weather Preparedness Week earlier in March by asking individuals and businesses to know their risk, take action and be an example for their community.

Flooding can happen in any state in the United States at any time. On average, $8.3 billion in damage is caused by flooding every year, more than any other weather-related event. In 2013, 85 people were killed in flood-related incidents. More than half of these cases were the result of people inadvertently driving into floodwaters.

The National Weather Service (NWS) recently redesigned its flood safety website, http://www.floodsafety.noaa.gov. It contains advice and information on what to do before, during and after a flood. Floodsmart.gov is the home of everything related to flood insurance and protecting your home and possessions. The NWS has provided daily posts for blogs and websites and has also made an article about the 10^th anniversary of the National ‘Turn Around Don’t Drown’ program available for publication online or in local newspapers.

Follow @NOAA, @NWS and @OwlieSkywarnNWS on Twitter. Those accounts will be using the hash tag #FloodSafety this week for Flood Safety Awareness posts. NOAA has prepared a social media plan for the week with pre-written Facebook and Twitter posts. It has also partnered with OSHA on a workplace education program to teach workers how to prevent and respond to floods and other disasters.

For more information on New Jersey’s disaster recovery, visit fema.gov/SandyNJ, twitter.com/FEMASandy, facebook.com/FEMASandy and fema.gov/blog.
 

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.