Why the Preservation of Weather and Emergency Services is Vital to Upholding Public Safety
On Wednesday, July 2nd, of this year the Texas Division of Emergency Management released state emergency response resources due to flooding threats. During the late afternoon of the 3rd they activated a flood watch for areas in Hill County, Rio Grande, and Edwards Plateau. Just after midnight on July 4th they upgraded the flood watch to a warning. Moments later, between the hours of 4am and 6am, the San Angelo and Austin/San Antonio National Weather Service offices posted the rare flash flood emergency alerts, indicating an event of catastrophic nature as massive flooding began.
The preservation of vital services, such as weather and emergency services, is essential to upholding public safety. Without these services, weather related emergencies can become destructive on a level that hasn’t been seen in decades.
Importance of Weather & Emergency Services
Inadequate Weather Forecasts Lead to Inadequate Preparations
Cutting funding to weather services can lead to outdated technology and resources being used to create inaccurate forecast predictions which can cause communities to become ill prepared for severe weather conditions. Without accurate forecasts and technology public safety is put at risk. When communities as a whole are underprepared for emergencies, the number of casualties rise along with the number of properties destroyed and people displaced.
Relief Efforts and Emergency Responses
If relief efforts and emergency services are not properly funded they cannot properly function which leaves hundreds and thousands of people in danger. It can also mean that a community’s recovery and rebuilding efforts are severely weakened. Relief and emergency responses need to be adequately funded so that all of the people in immediate need of emergency response can receive it in a timely manner and so that communities are able to effectively rebuild and recover after a disaster has occurred.
Saves More Money
Spending more on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the administration that is responsible for researching, creating, and providing reliable weather forecasts to the public, actually helps the United States save more money. Underfunding the NOAA causes the U.S. to spend more money on severe weather disasters. Giving the NOAA a larger budget to work with can become a highly cost effective investment that also reduces damage caused by severe weather. Weather and climate disasters would create a much greater financial toll on the U.S. if it weren’t for the forecasts provided by the NOAA.
Climate Change
A new budget estimate report for NOAA calls for full cuts to climate research and the shutdown of several climate research laboratories, including a lab in Hawaii dedicated to tracking greenhouse gas emissions. Eliminating climate research and tracking will only worsen our contributions to climate change. Without these resources, we will become extremely misinformed on the negative effects we are having on the environment and effectively ignore the problem altogether. Without this research we cannot work to change our unsustainable practices and help the environment. We cannot ignore the effects of climate change.
How to Stay Safe
Check Out The National Weather Service Safety Tips Website
This site will direct you on how to stay safe during severe weather situations. It has forecast and safety information for a plethora of situations from tornados and hurricanes to droughts, floods, wildfires, and more.
Emergency Planning
Create emergency situation plans. Research the most common severe weather conditions that happen in your area, what times during the year they are most commonly happening, and the best ways to stay safe during them, then create emergency situation plans based on the information you find. Emergency planning should include identifying a safe space (high or low ground depending on the weather situation), creating a communication plan to stay connected, creating an emergency kit (fill with items like food, water, essential medication, portable charger, and flashlights), preparing to protect pets, and document and protect important items (such as taking pictures of valuables and your property for insurance claim purposes).
Practice Emergency Drills
Emergency situations can cause panic and stress, but practicing your emergency plan can help you become more prepared and reduce panic when the time comes to put your plan into action. Practice should include figuring out how to reach your safe space and the best route to take to get there, knowing what to grab on the way (this should include your emergency kit and any pets/children), and how to respond to different weather situations based on what is most common in your area.
Alert Systems
Even though weather services are having funds cut, severe weather will still be reported as accurately and timely as possible. It is best to have alert systems set up with sending you notifications on weather condition updates from multiple sources. Having alerts set for multiple different sources will ensure that you get the information you need as fast and as accurately as possible in case of emergency.
Reinforce Your Home
For extra protection of your property, reinforce all windows and doors with impact-resistant shutters/plywood, cut down any large unstable tree branches and remove any large debris that could become dangerous projectiles during severe weather, secure doors with deadbolts, and depending on what severe weather is most common in your area consider upgrading your windows to impact-resistant glass. Taking these extra precautions can help you save your property from severe damages. Don’t forget to take pictures of everything on your property and all valuables for insurance claim purposes.
Weather and emergency services are essential to keep the public and the environment safe. We need to keep funding services like these in order to be able to protect ourselves in emergency situations. Without them, we are only putting ourselves at a disadvantage and ignoring the reality of climate change won’t make the effects any less impactful.
