The hazards where you live

How to read weather warnings

Weather services use tiered warnings: the US National Weather Service distinguishes between a watch (conditions are favorable, be ready) and a warning (it's happening or about to, act now). Most of Europe uses color codes:

Names and thresholds vary by country; the logic is the same.

Floods and flash floods

Floods are among the most damaging natural hazards worldwide. Water can rise within minutes, even where it isn't raining.

• Go up, never down. Don't go to garages, basements or ground floors to move the car or save belongings. In the 2024 Valencia floods, many victims were in underground garages, ground floors or their cars.
• Turn around, don't drown. About 6 inches (15 cm) of moving water can knock a person down, and about 12 inches (30 cm) can sweep away a car.
• If water enters your home, switch off the power at the breaker if you can do it without standing in water.
• Keep your go-bag and documents on an upper floor.
• After a flood, tap water may be contaminated: wait for authorities to confirm it's safe or purify it.

Hurricanes and tropical storms

They affect the US Gulf and Atlantic coasts, the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America. They have one advantage: you can see them coming days in advance.

• Before the season, which runs from June to November in the Atlantic: check your kit and build your supply up to two weeks. After Hurricane Maria in 2017, many areas of Puerto Rico went months without power.
• When a hurricane watch is issued, fill containers and the bathtub, charge batteries, get cash and fill the car's tank.
• Protect windows and bring in or tie down anything on balconies or in the yard that could fly.
• If you're told to evacuate, go. If you stay, shelter in the most interior room of the house, away from windows.
• The eye is deceptive: the calm may last minutes before the wind returns from the opposite direction.

Wildfires

They mainly affect people who live where homes meet forest or brush.

• Prevention: keep a defensible space clear of dry vegetation around the house and clean leaves from roofs and gutters. Sign up for your county's emergency alerts.
• If you're told to evacuate, leave early by the route indicated. Grab the go-bag and go: things aren't worth the risk.
• If you're told to shelter in place, close doors and windows, seal gaps with wet towels, fill containers with water and stay away from windows.
• Don't try to escape by car on roads with thick smoke.
• Keep N95 or FFP2 masks for smoke.

Heat waves

Extreme heat is one of the weather events with the biggest impact on health. The good news: it's forecast days ahead and prevented with simple habits.

• Avoid sun and exertion during the hottest hours.
• Drink water often, even if you're not thirsty. Older people feel thirst less.
• Keep your home cool: blinds down by day, ventilate at night.
• Call people who live alone, especially older adults.
• Hot, dry skin, confusion or fainting can mean heatstroke: call emergency services and cool the person while help arrives.

Winter storms and extreme cold

In February 2021, winter storm Uri left millions of Texans without power for days in freezing temperatures; a month earlier, storm Filomena paralyzed Madrid under snow.

• When snow is forecast, shop beforehand and check your pantry and medication.
• Avoid driving. If you must, take a full tank, chains, a blanket, water and something to eat.
• If you get stranded in your car, don't walk out into a blizzard. Run the engine ten minutes every hour, with the exhaust pipe clear of snow and a window slightly open.
• Let faucets drip to keep pipes from freezing, and watch out for carbon monoxide from heaters.

Earthquakes

The most seismic areas include the US West Coast, Alaska, the Pacific coast from Mexico to Chile and, in Europe, Italy, Greece, Turkey and southeastern Spain. Many regions hold annual drills: take part.

• Drop, cover and hold on: under a sturdy table, away from windows and furniture that could fall.
• Don't run outside during the shaking: many injuries come from objects and debris falling in the street.
• If your area has an early warning system, like ShakeAlert on the US West Coast or the seismic alert in Mexico, learn what to do in the seconds it gives you.
• When you go out afterwards, don't use the elevator and stay away from facades and cornices.
• If you live on the coast and the shaking is strong or long, move inland and to high ground: a tsunami may follow.
• Prevention: anchor bookcases and tall furniture to the wall.

Chemical or industrial accidents

If you live near an industrial area, your local government has a specific plan. If you're told to shelter in place:

• Get into the nearest building and close doors and windows.
• Turn off ventilation and air conditioning.
• Follow instructions on the radio and don't go out until told.
• Don't go to pick up the children from school: they shelter there too and are safer.