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<br />"The last warning proved false, why believe this one?" <br /> <br />"I've never seen a flood here before." <br /> <br />"What does a watch or a warning mean?" <br /> <br />"No one else looks worried, I'll try not to." <br /> <br />"I better get down to the creek and see for mysel f." <br /> <br />Studies have shown that when people are given conflicting reports, <br />they almost always believe the one that says there is no problem. <br />(Remember The Poseidon Adventure?) Here are some things to keep <br />in mind: <br /> <br />1. Go to city hall and check your local flood map. It was <br />prepared to inform you of the more dangerous but less <br />frequent floods that could occur. It is a more dependable <br />notice than a neighbor who hasn't seen a flood in the last <br />ten years. If you are in the floodplain, those watches <br />and warnings apply to you. <br /> <br />2. Do not try to go down to the creek and see if a flash <br />flood is coming. You will lose valuable time and you <br />may not make it back. <br /> <br />3. See the previous page for what a watch and warning mean. <br /> <br />4. In spite of all the money and modern technology that goes <br />into the Weather Service's warnings, many flood predictions <br />will not be 100% perfect. Do you know in advance which <br />ones will be wrong? What do you lose if you implement your <br />evacuation plan? What jo you lose if you don't and the <br />flood comes? Isn't it worth it even as a drill? <br /> <br />B. Evacuation Plan <br /> <br />An evacuation plan is simply a plan to get everything and everyone <br />out of danger after you receive the flood warning. You should <br />prepare a plan for your house so that nothing will be forgotten <br />when the time comes. An evacuation plan should be in two stages, <br />one to get ready and one to implement. <br /> <br />Get Ready: This stage should be initiated when a flash flood watch <br />is issued or when the flood stage reaches a certain level. Here <br />are some things that could be included at this stage: <br /> <br />Check flashlight and radio batteries <br />Test manual valves <br />Fill drinking water containers <br />Put sandbags, shovel. buckets, etc. near the door <br /> <br />35 <br />