Spring Hazards in Colorado
Severe spring weather hazards Colorado can range from a mild wind storm to a voracious tornado, damaging hail storm, or severe thunderstorm. Colorado's first week of spring in 2003, brought a winter storm that compared to the worst Colorado had seen in 1913. Click here for a county-by-county comparison of the 2003 and 1913 winter snow storm.
The first and most important thing that anyone should do when facing hazardous weather conditions is to use common sense. The key to avoiding serious injury or death during severe weather is knowing safety rules and precautions you can take to survive. Learn what you can do to protect yourself and your family, and help mitigate the damage severe weather incidents may cause. An important consideration in developing a family emergency plan is how you would find each other. Even when you are home, it is critical that your family has a plan for where to meet should severe weather or another emergency force you to evacuate your home.
Prepare emergency kits for your home and your car...and update them every six months or so.
You never know when a disaster may strike. Being prepared is the best way to protect yourself.
Some facts:
Flash Floods are the number 1 weather killer.
Lightning kills 75 - 100 people yearly. Nationwide, this is more people killed by either tornados or hurricanes.
Large Hail causes tremendous damage annually to property/crops.
Compared with other states, Colorado ranks number 9 for frequency of Tornados, 38 for
number of deaths, 31 for injuries and 30 for cost of damages.
Colorado saw the worst Wildfire season in its history in 2002 with 3,072 wildfires burning over 600,000 acres. There were over 2,000 wildland fires which burned over 126,800 acres in Colorado in 2000.
Landslides and other "ground failures" cost more lives and more money each year than all other natural disasters combined, and their incidence appears to be rising.
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