Abandoned Building Squat or Bridge Underpass Structural Collapse, Flash Flood in Storm-Drain Tunnels, and High-Water Escape¶
Pagalbos numeriai skiriasi įvairiose šalyse. Šiame puslapyje naudojamas 911 - JAV ir Kanados numeris. Daugelis kitų šalių naudoja 112, 999 arba kitą numerį. Raskite savo šalies numerį.
Ieškau pastogės nuo ekstremalių oro sąlygų, šalčio ar gatvės šlavimo požeminiame betoniniame audros nuotakų tunelyje (flood-control box culvert, pvz., požeminiai kanalai po Las Vegasu, Finiksu, Los Andželu, San Antoniju, Madridu ar Tokiju), mažos prošvaisos upės tilto požeminė perėja (concrete abutment shelf), or a fire-damaged or water-rotted abandoned building (vacant factory, unreinforced masonry warehouse, or condemned house squat) neapgyvendinami asmenys, miesto tyrinėtojai ir gelbėjimo tarnybos darbuotojai susiduria su dviem greičiausiai kylančiais mirtinais pavojais pastatytoje aplinkoje: (1) staigūs požeminiai potvyniai, neįspėjantys (where a thunderstorm 25 kilometers / 15 miles away in the mountains sends a 2-meter / 6.5-foot wall of water racing through a bone-dry underground tunnel at 25 to 40 km/h / 15 to 25 mph under a clear blue sky) ir (2) Staigus blynas arba V formos tuštumos grindų / stogo griūtis, kai užmirksta permirkusios medinės sijos, aprūdijusios plieninės santvaros arba nesutvirtintos plytų sienos.
Jei šiuo metu esate požeminėje lietaus kanalizacijoje, dėžės pralaidoje ar sausoje betoninėje upės plovykloje ir girdite tolimą krovininio traukinio riaumojimą, užuodžiate staigią drėgno ozono/žemės bangą arba matote, kaip vanduo ant grindų tampa purvinas ir pakyla net 2 centimetrus (3/4 inch), drop all heavy belongings and exit to the surface or climb the nearest vertical manhole ladder within 60 seconds. Call your local emergency number (911 JAV ir Kanadoje, 112 visoje Europos Sąjungoje, 999 in the United Kingdom, 000 in Australia) via pagalbos numeriai, ir konsultuotis staigūs potvyniai, išgyvenimas be namų ir ekstremalios oro sąlygos, stovyklavietės šlavimo, turto konfiskavimo ir pastogės teisių, ir sudden homelessness: first 48 hours and emergency shelter.
Padarykite tai dabar¶
- JEI ESATE Audros nutekėjimo TUNELYJE ARBA BETONO PLOVIMO VIDUJE IR GIRDOTE MAŽĄ ŠILDŽIĄ, JAUČIATE STAIGĄ VĖSUS ORO POVEIKĮ ARBA MATOTE, KAD ATRODAS RUDOS PUTOS / SKUBOS: Nedelsdami atsisakykite visų įrankių ir „Sprint“ važiuokite artimiausiame Manderhole.
- Niekada nesustokite susikrauti miegmaišio, palapinės, kuprinės ar dviračio į potvynio lietaus kanalizaciją. Betoniniai potvynių kontrolės tuneliai sukurti taip, kad būtų hidrauliniai latakai be trinties: kai greitai tekantis vanduo pasiekia 15 centimetrų (
6 inches) giliai ant slidžių, dumbliais padengtų betoninių grindų ties3 to 5 meters per second (10 to 16 feet per second), the hydrodynamic drag force (half of water density multiplied by velocity squared and area) akimirksniu išmuša suaugusiojo kojas iš po jų ir prispaudžia jas po vandeniu prie šiukšliadėžių grotelių (bar screens). - If you cannot outrun the water longitudinally to the tunnel mouth, climb UP immediately: look for the corrugated steel or cast-iron ladder rungs cast into the vertical concrete manhole chimney shafts spaced every 90 to 150 meters (
300 to 500 feet) along the tunnel ceiling, climb above the crown of the main pipe, and wedge your boots and back into the vertical shaft (or push the street manhole cover up with your legs/shoulders, not your hands). - IF TRAPPED ON A BRIDGE UNDERPASS LEDGE (
ABUTMENT SHELF) AS THE RIVER RISES BELOW YOU: Climb Up to the Highway Deck Before the Water Reaches Your Ankles (Never Wait Until Water Touches the Bridge Girders). - When a river floods under a highway or railway bridge, floating trees and dumpsters slam into the bridge piers and create a strainer dam, causing the water level under the bridge to surge upward 1.5 meters (
5 feet) in 5 minutes while creating a deadly downward vortex (hydraulic boil) around the concrete pillars. - Scramble up the concrete riprap slope (
at the 45-degree corner wing-walls of the bridge) to the upper highway shoulder immediately, wave a bright flashlight or high-visibility cloth at passing traffic, and call911 / 112 / 999for a Swiftwater / High-Angle Rope Rescue Team. - IF YOU ARE INSIDE AN ABANDONED BUILDING AND HEAR SHARP CRACKING/POPPING SOUNDS, SEE PLASTER DUST FALLING FROM CEILING JOISTS, OR FEEL THE FLOOR SAG: Evacuate via the Perimeter Masonry Stairwell (
Never the Center of the Floor). - Rotted wooden floor joists and rusted steel roof trusses fail in the center of the span first, dropping the middle of the floor straight into the basement (
while the outer edges bolted into the thick exterior brick walls often remain hanging as triangular "Lean-To V-Voids"). - Hug the exterior load-bearing brick or concrete wall (
or an enclosed corner masonry stairwell) as you exit; if debris begins falling before you can reach the door, dive beside a solid vertical load-bearing column, concrete stairwell wall, or heavy industrial machinery (which creates a survivable void space) and curl into a tight ball protecting your head and chest (never lie flat on your stomach where collapsing beams crush your ribcage preventing chest expansion). - IF SWEPT INTO FAST-MOVING FLOODWATER INSIDE A CHANNEL OR RIVER: Assume the
"Defensive Swiftwater Swimming Position"(On Your Back, Feet First Downstream, Toes Up, Sculling With Hands). - Never try to stand up in knee-deep or waist-deep moving floodwater: if your boot wedges inside a submerged shopping cart, concrete joint, or rebar stub (
"Foot Entrapment"), the force of the current immediately folds your torso face-down underwater and holds you there. - Float on your back with your feet pointed downstream (
in front of you), knees slightly bent, and toes above the surface so your boot soles bounce off concrete boulders and walls like shock absorbers, and angle your body at a 45-degree ferry angle toward the nearest angled concrete bank or rescue ladder.
The 'Deadly Trash-Rack / Bar-Screen Strainer' Inside Storm Drains and Culverts
Why are underground storm drains and highway box culverts 10 times more lethal to swim in than an open natural river? Because municipalities bolt heavy vertical steel Trash Racks (Debris Grates / Bar Screens with 15-cm / 6-inch steel bars) across the entrance, junctions, and outlets of underground tunnels to stop mattresses, shopping carts, and tree limbs from clogging pumps. When a flash flood surges through a tunnel, the steel grate acts as a hydrostatic strainer (sieve): hundreds of kilograms of water pressure per square meter pin anything floating in the water flat against the steel bars with impossible-to-break suction, and once the tunnel fills to the ceiling ("Pipe Full / Surcharge Flow"), all breathable air pockets disappear completely. Never enter or shelter inside a tunnel upstream of a steel bar grate.
Decision tree: Immediate survival protocol for tunnel flash floods, underpass rises, and squat collapses¶
flowchart TD
A["Urgent Structural or Flood Emergency in Storm Drain, Bridge Underpass, or Abandoned Squat"] --> B{"Which Environment Are You Currently In?"}
B -->|"1. Underground Storm-Drain Tunnel, Box Culvert, or Concrete Wash"| C{"Is Water Rising or Do You Hear a Distant Roar / Feel Wind Gust?"}
C -->|"Yes: Water Rising / Roar Heard"| D["DROP ALL GEAR IMMEDIATELY: Do NOT Pack Tent or Bags (You Have < 60 to 120 Seconds Before Knockdown Flow)"]
D --> E{"Is the Open Tunnel Portal / Sloped Wall Within 100m Upstream/Lateral?"}
E -->|"Taip"| F["Sprint Out of Tunnel Mouth or Climb Sloped Trapezoidal Channel Wall Using Chain-Link Fence / Expansion Joints"]
E -->|"No (Deep Inside Underground Box Culvert)"| G["CLIMB VERTICAL MANHOLE CHIMNEY LADDER IMMEDIATELY: Ascend Above Pipe Crown, Brace Back Against Shaft, Pound on Street Manhole Lid with Metal Object & Call 911/112"]
B -->|"2. Bridge Underpass Ledge / Riverbank Encampment"| H["Scrambled Escape via 45-Degree Wing-Wall Riprap Slope to Upper Highway Shoulder Before Water Reaches Ankles; Call Swiftwater Rescue"]
B -->|"3. Abandoned Building / Vacant Warehouse Squat"| I{"Are Floors Sagging, Walls Bowing, or Roof Cracking?"}
I -->|"Warning Signs Before Collapse"| J["Evacuate Immediately: Walk Along Exterior Load-Bearing Wall Perimeters (Never Across Center Floor Span)"]
I -->|"Caught Inside Active Collapse / Trapped in Rubble"| K["Dive Next to Load-Bearing Corner Wall or Heavy Structural Column ('Triangle / Lean-To Void'); Cover Mouth with Shirt Against Silica/Asbestos Dust; Tap Pipe 3 Times Every 60 Seconds"]
Scenario 1: Flash floods in underground storm-drain tunnels and concrete flood channels¶
In cities across the American Southwest (Las Vegas's 1,000 kilometers / 600 miles of underground flood tunnels managed by the Clark County Regional Flood Control District; Phoenix; Albuquerque; Los Angeles's concrete river channels; San Antonio; Austin; Dallas), Europe, and Asia, thousands of unhoused people shelter inside 3-meter-by-4-meter (10-by-13-foot) reinforced concrete box culverts because they stay cool in 45°C summer heat and dry for 340 days a year.
====================================================================================
ANATOMY OF AN UNDERGROUND STORM-DRAIN FLASH FLOOD ("SURCHARGE PIPE FLOW")
====================================================================================
[Street Level] ======[Cast-Iron Manhole Cover (50-110 kg)]======
| | <-- VERTICAL MANHOLE CHIMNEY SHAFT
| H | - Steel ladder rungs on wall
| H | - SURVIVAL REFUGE: Climb up into
| H | this vertical chimney ABOVE the
[Tunnel Ceiling] ----------------+ H +---------------- tunnel ceiling before
AIR SPACE VANISHES IN 3 MINS | H | water fills the pipe.
........................................................ <-- Rising Flood Crest
---> 25 to 40 km/h (15-25 mph) Debris Wall ---> (Zero Air Pocket
======================================================== Once "Surcharged")
[Slick Algae Concrete Floor: 15 cm (6 in) Fast Water Knocks an Adult Down]
====================================================================================
The 4 sensory early-warning signs of an approaching tunnel flash flood (Even Under a Sunny Sky)¶
Because storm drains collect runoff from paved streets and mountains 10 to 30 kilometers (6 to 20 miles) upstream, you will frequently never see a single raindrop or hear thunder at the tunnel entrance before a lethal flood wave arrives. Memorize these four sensory precursors:
- The "Piston Wind" & Smell of Wet Earth (
3 to 8 Minutes Before the Water Wall): - As a wall of floodwater fills the upstream tunnel cross-section, it acts like a giant syringe plunger pushing a column of displaced air ahead of it down the pipe. If you suddenly feel a continuous, cool, damp breeze blowing down a normally still tunnel accompanied by the smell of wet asphalt, sewer gas, and ozone, a flood wave is already inside the pipe upstream of you.
- The Acoustic "Subway / Freight-Train Rumble" (
1 to 4 Minutes Before Impact): - Concrete box culverts act as acoustic waveguides: churning water tumbling rocks, shopping carts, and timber down the concrete floor creates a deep, rising low-frequency roar that echoes down the tunnel minutes before the water appears.
- ** „Purvinas srovele“ ir staigus kuojų / žiurkių pakilimas sienomis (
30 to 90 Seconds Before the Crest):** - Watch the small center low-flow gutter (
invert channel) in the floor of the tunnel: the instant the clear trickle turns chocolate-brown, foamy, or carries floating cigarette butts and leaves, OR you see hundreds of cockroaches, spiders, and rats suddenly scrambling vertically up the concrete side walls toward the ceiling, the main flood crest is seconds behind. - How to Escape via a Vertical Manhole Chimney When the Tunnel Fills:
- Look up at the ceiling as you walk into any storm drain and count your paces to the nearest vertical manhole shaft ladder.
- If trapped underground by rising water, climb the steel ladder rungs all the way up into the narrow circular vertical chimney below the street.
- Caution on Rusty Ladder Rungs: Always maintain three points of contact and place your hands and feet flush against the outer edges of the steel rung right where it enters the concrete wall (
never in the middle of a corroded rung, where bending stress is highest and rusted steel snaps). - How to Open a 70-Kilogram (
150-Pound) Cast-Iron Street Manhole Cover From Underneath: Never try to push a manhole lid up with extended arms over your head. Climb high enough that your shoulders or the soles of your boots (while bracing your back horizontally against the opposite concrete wall of the shaft) can drive upward with leg/back power, OR jam a metal pipe/crowbar through the two 2.5-centimeter (1-inch) pick-holes in the cast-iron cover and wave a bright cloth or flashlight beam up into the street so drivers and pedestrians see you and call 911.
Scenario 2: Structural collapse hazards inside abandoned buildings (Squats), warehouses, and burned structures¶
For unhoused people sheltering inside vacant houses, abandoned industrial mills, or fire-damaged buildings, structural collapse is almost always triggered by water infiltration through a leaking roof (which silently rots wooden floor joists over months) or winter snow/rain loads adding tens of metric tons of weight onto compromised trusses.
| Building Type & Structural Weakness | The 4 Visual & Auditory Red Flags That Collapse Is Imminent (Leave Tonight) |
Where to Sleep/Walk Safely vs. The "Death Zone" |
|---|---|---|
1. Unreinforced Masonry (URM Old Brick Factories, Warehouses, & Rowhouses) With Wooden Floors |
- Exterior brick walls bulging outward ("bowing") like a pregnant belly at mid-height.- Diagonal stair-step cracks wider than 6 mm (1/4 inch) in brick mortar around windows.- Wooden floor joists pulling out of their brick wall pockets ( leaving a gap where you can see the floor sagging away from the wall). |
DEATH ZONE: The center of a wide wooden floor (which collapses into a V-shape or "Pancake" stack) and the sidewalk directly outside a bowing brick wall (which peels off and crushes tents pitched against the outside wall).SAFEST ZONE: Inside an enclosed corner masonry stairwell or doorway arch on the ground floor. |
2. Fire-Damaged Buildings (Charred Roof Rafters or Floor Beams) |
- Water-soaked plaster/drywall ceilings sagging downward like a water balloon (wet plaster weighs 25 to 50 kg per square meter and drops without warning).- Deep "alligator-skin" char cracks penetrating more than 1.5 cm into wooden support beams. |
Never sleep on a floor below a fire-damaged roof or above a flooded basement. One heavy rainstorm adds enough water weight to charred rafters to bring the entire roof down at 3:00 AM. |
3. Concrete Parking Decks, Bridges, & Industrial Basements (Spalling Concrete) |
- Large chunks of bottom concrete ceiling have popped off (spalling), exposing heavily rusted, flaking orange steel rebar cages.- Diagonal 45-degree shear cracks near the top of concrete support columns ( punching-shear failure warning). |
Stay completely clear of bays where overhead concrete is spalling off rusted rebar or where shoring jacks have been placed. |
How to survive and signal rescuers if trapped under building rubble (USAR Void-Space Survival)¶
If an abandoned building roof or floor collapses before you can get out:
1. ** Apsaugokite kvėpavimo takus nuo silicio dioksido, gipso ir asbesto dulkių (Seconds 1 to 30):**
- Konstrukcijos griūtis užpildo orą akinančiomis, dusinančiomis kristalinio silicio dioksido, susmulkinto kalkių skiedinio, stiklo pluošto ir asbesto dulkių. Nedelsdami užtraukite marškinėlių ar švarko apykaklę virš nosies ir burnos (breathe through 2 to 4 layers of cloth)** ir laikykite užmerktas akis, kol nusės dulkių debesis.
2. ** Niekada nedekite žiebtuvėlio, degtukų ar propano šildytuvo po griuvėsiais:**
- Sugriuvusiuose pastatuose dažnai nukirpti gamtinių dujų vamzdžiai (or decaying organic/sewer pockets). Užmušus liepsną, uždaroje erdvėje įvyksta sprogimas ir sunaudojama ribota deguonies kišenė. Taupiai naudokite išmaniojo telefono ekraną arba LED žibintuvėlį.
3. Use the International "3-Tap Acoustic Pipe Signal" (Do NOT Scream Continuously):
- Screaming in dusty rubble exhausts your oxygen, dehydrates your throat, and barely penetrates 1 meter of concrete.
- Instead, pick up a piece of metal, pipe, or rock and bang 3 distinct, rhythmic taps (TAP - TAP - TAP ... pause ... TAP - TAP - TAP) against a steel water pipe, radiator pipe, steel I-beam, or concrete column every 60 seconds. Sound vibrations travel 50 meters along continuous steel pipes directly to FEMA / Fire Department Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Delsar seismic/acoustic listening sensors, and when you hear rescue dogs or voices above, pause your tapping so you can hear their call and tap back on command.
Scenario 3: Safe winter/storm heating and carbon monoxide rules in squats and underpasses¶
More people sheltering in abandoned buildings, box culverts, and bridge underpasses die each winter from Carbon Monoxide (CO) poisoning and mattress fires than from structural collapse:
- Never burn a charcoal grill, wood pallet fire, gas generator, or camp stove inside an unvented room, basement, or concrete culvert: Burning charcoal or damp pallet wood indoors produces 3,000 to 10,000 ppm of odorless Carbon Monoxide (CO), causing fatal coma during sleep within 20 to 45 minutes.
- Keep Two Independent Physical Exit Paths Clear (The Squat Fire Rule): Vacant buildings filled with cardboard, mattresses, and tarps burn from a single candle tip to total flashover (600°C / 1,100°F) in under 180 seconds. Never sleep in a room where the windows are welded shut with steel security bars or boarded over from the outside with plywood unless you have pried open a second ground-floor window/door escape path before lying down.
Scenario 4: Bridge underpass hydraulic hazards, riprap climbing, and low-head dam ("drowning machine") escape¶
Rough sleepers and flood evacuees frequently camp on the flat concrete bridge abutment shelf (bridge seat) directly beneath highway overpasses or alongside urban river walk channels. While a highway bridge blocks vertical rainfall, the underpass itself sits inside the engineered floodway constriction of the river or drainage channel:
- Why Rivers Rise Twice as Fast Underneath a Bridge (
Venturi Constriction & Debris Strainer Dams): - Engineers narrow the riverbank with concrete wing-walls to shorten the bridge span. When storm runoff surges down the channel, that narrowing forces the water to accelerate and pile up vertically (
backwater rise) right against the bridge piers. - Worse, as soon as the first uprooted tree, floating dumpster, or wooden pallet catches sideways across the concrete bridge piers, every piece of downstream debris slams into that tree, building a solid Debris Dam in minutes that backs floodwater right up onto the upper underpass ledge where tents are pitched.
- How to Escape Up Steep Concrete Channel Walls (
Trapezoidal Flood Channels): - If you are caught inside a sloped, 45-degree concrete flood channel (
such as the Los Angeles River, Las Vegas Wash, or San Antonio River flood tunnels) where algae and silt make the wet concrete as slick as greased glass:- Do not try to walk straight up smooth wet concrete in wet rubber shoe soles: crawl on all fours along the vertical concrete expansion-joint grooves (
spaced every 6 to 9 meters / 20 to 30 feet), which provide finger- and boot-edge purchase, OR grab the bottom tension cable of the perimeter chain-link fence at the top lip of the channel. - The
"Backpack Throw-Bag"Rescue From the Bank: If a companion is swept down a concrete channel and you are standing safe on the bank above them, never jump in after them (both of you will be swept away). Instead, empty half the heavy clothes out of a backpack, clip a 15-meter (50-foot) nylon paracord or tarp rope to the backpack grab-handle (leaving one sealed empty plastic 2-liter water bottle or closed sleeping pad inside the pack for buoyancy), hold the tail end of the rope wrapped around a fence post (never tied around your own wrist or waist), and throw the floating backpack upstream of your companion so they can hug the pack to their chest and pendulum-swing into the bank.
- Do not try to walk straight up smooth wet concrete in wet rubber shoe soles: crawl on all fours along the vertical concrete expansion-joint grooves (
- Escaping a Low-Head Dam or Box-Culvert Drop-Off (
The "Recirculating Hydraulic Boil"): - Where an underground storm-drain culvert empties out into a concrete dissipation basin (
or where an urban river drops 1 to 3 meters over a concrete weir / low-head dam), the falling sheet of water plunges to the bottom and curls backward upstream, creating a submerged recirculating washing-machine vortex (hydraulic jump / keeper hydraulic) that pulls floating victims back into the falling curtain of water over and over. - If caught in a recirculating hydraulic at a culvert mouth: Do not waste your breath trying to swim forward on the surface against the backward-flowing boil. Instead, (a) try to work your body sideways (
laterally) along the face of the weir toward the angled concrete wing-wall where the hydraulic breaks, OR (b) tuck into a ball, sink to the bottom concrete floor directly beneath the falling curtain where the green bottom current shoots downstream, and push off the floor downstream past the white foamy boil line before surfacing.
Protecting your critical ID documents, EBT card, and phone inside a flood-prone encampment¶
Kai evakuojatės iš užtvindytos lietaus kanalizacijos arba griūva pritūpęs tamsoje, praradus vairuotojo pažymėjimą, gimimo liudijimą, socialinio draudimo kortelę, SNAP/EBT kortelę ir „Lifeline“ telefoną užtvindytoje palapinėje, jūsų būstas atsigauna mėnesiais. Kiekvieną naktį miegokite su savo ID kortelėmis, EBT kortele, vaistų buteliukais ir telefonu, užsandarintame vandeniui atspariame sausame maišelyje (or double-zipped quart freezer Ziploc bags) clipped directly to your belt loop or worn inside a cross-body chest pouch under your jacket, never left loose on the tent floor.
Crush Syndrome ('Smiling Death') Warning: Never Pull a Heavy Beam Off a Person's Pinned Legs After 2+ Hours Without Paramedics On Scene
If a companion's legs or pelvis have been pinned under a heavy fallen timber beam or concrete slab for more than 1 to 2 hours (and there is no active fire or rising water forcing immediate removal), do NOT jack the beam off their legs until Advanced Life Support (ALS) paramedics are standing beside them with IV fluids and sodium bicarbonate/calcium. Why? Muscle tissue crushed without blood flow for hours builds up massive toxic concentrations of potassium (hyperkalemia), myoglobin, and lactic acid. The instant you lift the heavy beam off their legs, that trapped potassium floods straight back to their heart, triggering fatal cardiac arrest within 60 seconds ("Reperfusion Crush Syndrome"). Call 911 / 112 / 999 immediately and keep the person warm and calm until paramedics start IV fluids before lifting the weight.
How to Read the Local Sky & Radar Before Sleeping Near Any Wash, Culvert, or River Underpass
Even if the sky directly above your bridge or tunnel is 100 percent clear at 10:00 PM, never sleep in a drainage channel without checking upstream mountain weather:
1. Look at the Horizon Toward the Higher Terrain (15 to 30 km / 10 to 20 miles uphill): If you see dark anvil cumulonimbus clouds or distant silent lightning flashes ("heat lightning") over the mountains uphill from your city, rainwater from that storm will funnel down into your city's concrete channels 45 to 90 minutes later.
2. Enable Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) on Any Phone (Even a Phone With Zero Paid Cell Service): Every smartphone (even an deactivated old phone without a SIM card or paid plan) receives free National Weather Service (NWS) Flash Flood Emergency Warnings via cell-tower broadcast (Settings > Notifications > Wireless Emergency Alerts = ON) and can dial 911 / 112 / 999 for free.
First aid note for floodwater immersion, hypothermia, and crush injuries¶
Urban storm-drain floodwater is a toxic soup of raw sanitary sewer overflow (CSO), rat urine (Leptospira), motor oil, hypodermic needles, and freezing runoff. Anyone pulled from a flooded tunnel or river channel must: (1) strip off wet clothing immediately and wrap in dry blankets/Mylar to prevent conductive hypothermia (which strikes even in 20°C / 68°F water), (2) flush all cuts and scrapes with clean bottled water + soap + antiseptic (povidone-iodine) to prevent leptospirosis, tetanus, and Vibrio / Aeromonas soft-tissue infections, and (3) visit an emergency department or street-medicine clinic if any floodwater was swallowed or aspirated ("secondary pulmonary injury"). Taking a hands-on First Aid and CPR course from the Red Cross or St John Ambulance prepares you to manage drowning and trauma before EMS arrives.
Regional emergency, swiftwater rescue, and severe-weather shelter contacts¶
- United States & Canada:
- Immediate Tunnel Flood, Swiftwater Rescue, or Building Collapse: Call
911and state clearly:"SWIFTWATER RESCUE NEEDED IN [STORM DRAIN / CHANNEL LOCATION]"arba"STRUCTURAL BUILDING COLLAPSE WITH PERSON TRAPPED AT [ADDRESS]"(so dispatch sends Technical Rescue / USAR and Swiftwater boats rather than a single patrol car). - 24/7 Emergency Severe-Weather Shelter & Outreach Van Dispatch: Dial
211(or311in NYC, Chicago, LA, SF, Toronto). During Flash Flood Watches, Freeze Warnings, or Code Blue/Code Red alerts, municipal outreach teams (such as HELP of Southern Nevada's tunnel outreach team in Las Vegas, LAHSA ERT in Los Angeles, or DHS Outreach in NYC) provide emergency transport to dry shelters with no ID barriers. - United Kingdom & European Union:
- Emergency Fire & Technical Rescue: Dial
999(UK) or112(EU). - Rough Sleeper skubios pastogės nukreipimas: JK susisiekite su
StreetLink(thestreetlink.org.uk) arba vietos taryba SWEP (Severe Weather Emergency Protocol) būsto stalai; Prancūzijoje surinkite115(SAMU Social24/7 nemokama skubios pastogės linija). - Australija:
- Avarinis potvynis / policija / gaisro gelbėjimas: skambinkite
000; Valstybinė pagalbos tarnyba (SESGelbėjimas po potvynio ir audros): Skambinkite132 500. - Dėl pagalbos numerių daugiau nei 190 šalių kreipkitės pagalbos numeriai.
Dažnai užduodami klausimai¶
Kaip požeminis audros kanalizacijos tunelis gali užtvindyti 6 pėdų vandens siena, kai lauke net nelyja?¶
Betoniniai lietaus kanalai ir potvynių kontrolės kanalai veikia kaip milžiniški piltuvai, surenkantys lietaus vandenį iš asfaltuotų gatvių ir kalnų, esančių už 15-30 kilometrų (10-20 mylių). Smarki perkūnija virš tolimų kalnų papėdės išsiunčia milijonus litrų nuotėkio be trinties betono vamzdžiais 25-40 km/h (15-25 mylių per valandą) greičiu ir atkeliauja po saulėtu dangumi ir nulis vietinio lietaus. Jei esate tunelyje ir jaučiate staigų vėsų vėją, užuodžiate šlapią purvą, išgirstate žemą krovininio traukinio ūžesį arba matote, kaip dumblėja grindys, numeskite visus daiktus ir per 60 sekundžių išeikite arba lipkite vertikaliomis šulinio kopėčiomis.
Kodėl aš niekada neturėčiau bandyti atsistoti ar vaikščioti, jei mane partrenkia iki kelių besitęsiantis potvynis?¶
Judantis vos 15 centimetrų (6 colių) gylio vanduo gali nuversti suaugusįjį nuo kojų, o bandant įleisti kojas į kelių ar juosmens sraunų vandenį, kyla mirtinas „pėdos įstrigimo“ pavojus. Jei jūsų batas ar kulkšnis įstrigo į panardintą grotelę, armatūros strypą, betoninę kompensacinę jungtį ar pirkinių krepšelį, didžiulė srovė iš karto stumia jūsų krūtinę ir galvą veidu žemyn po vandeniu ir prispaudžia jus ten. Visada plūduriuokite ant nugaros taip, kad kojos būtų nukreiptos pasroviui priešais save, o pirštai aukštyn arti paviršiaus, kad atsimuštumėte į kliūtis, o pakreipdami 45 laipsnių kampu į krantą.
Kur saugiausia judėti, jei man būnant viduje apleistas pastatas pradeda trūkinėti ar griūti?¶
Senesniuose mūriniuose ir mediniuose pastatuose pūvančios arba perkrautos grindų sijos visada pirmiausia pasiduoda kambario centre, grindų vidurys nuleidžiamas tiesiai į rūsį, o išoriniai kraštai, pritvirtinti prie storų perimetro sienų, dažnai lieka pritvirtinti kaip kampuotos „V formos tuštumos“. Nedelsdami atsitraukite nuo centrinio grindų tarpatramio ir apkabinkite išorinę laikančiąją sieną, arkines mūrines duris arba uždarą kampinę laiptinę. Jei griuvėsiai pradeda kristi prieš jums išlipant, pasinerkite šalia tvirto laikančiojo kampo arba sunkios konstrukcijos kolonos, susisukite į tankų rutulį, kad apsaugotumėte savo šonkaulį, ir užsivilkite marškinius ant nosies ir burnos nuo dulkių.
Kodėl pavojinga kelti sunkų sugriuvusį siją nuo žmogaus kojų, jei jis buvo prispaustas ilgiau nei dvi valandas?¶
Kai sunki betono plokštė ar medinė sija daugiau nei 1-2 valandas traiško ir spaudžia žmogaus kojas ar dubenį, deguonies nestokojančios raumenų ląstelės suyra ir sulaiko mirtiną kalio, mioglobino ir rūgšties kiekį kojų viduje. Jei gelbėtojai staiga pakelia spindulį nuo kojų be paramedikų, įstrigęs kalis patenka tiesiai į širdį ir per 60 sekundžių sukelia mirtiną širdies sustojimą. Išskyrus atvejus, kai gaisras ar kylantis potvynis priverčia nedelsiant judėti, skambinkite 911 ir laikykite pluoštą stabilų, kol atvyks paramedikai, kurie prieš pakeldami suleis IV skysčių ir širdį saugančių vaistų.
Šaltiniai patikrinti¶
- Federalinė ekstremalių situacijų valdymo agentūra (FEMA, Jungtinės Valstijos): Miesto paieškos ir gelbėjimo (USAR) lauko operacijų vadovas, konstrukcijų griūties tuštumų tipai, žymėjimo sistemos ir atramos.
- Nacionalinė priešgaisrinės apsaugos asociacija (NFPA, Jungtinės Valstijos): NFPA 1006 ir 1670 techninių gelbėtojų profesinės kvalifikacijos, greitojo vandens gelbėjimo, žemos užtvankos mechanikos ir uždaros erdvės pavojaus standartai.
- Nacionalinė vandenynų ir atmosferos administracija (NOAA) ir nacionalinė orų tarnyba (NWS, Jungtinės Valstijos): staigių potvynių mechanika miesto drenažo sistemose ir inžineriniuose kanaluose.
- Jungtinių Valstijų priešgaisrinė administracija (USFA, Jungtinės Amerikos Valstijos): Pirmoji skubi pagalba dėl suspaudimo sindromo ir užsitęsusio įstrigimo.
- Aplinkos agentūra (Jungtinė Karalystė): Potvynių įspėjimo sistemos, pralaidų pavojai ir miesto vandens kelių sauga.
- Australazijos priešgaisrinių ir avarinių tarnybų taryba (AFAC, Australija): Miesto paieškos ir gelbėjimo bei gelbėjimo potvynių operacijų vadovas.