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Severe Weather

Severe weather should be taken seriously, as it can cause serious injury, inflict costly damages, and disrupt daily lives.

Like many other parts of the country, Orange County sometimes experiences rainstorms, hail, flash flooding, high winds, thunderstorms and lightening. Flash flooding is responsible for more fatalities—more than 140 annually—than any other thunderstorm-associated hazard. Some 90 percent of all presidentially-declared disasters across the U.S. are weather-related, and account for around 500 deaths and nearly $14 billion in damage per year.

Every thunderstorm is dangerous because every thunderstorm produces lightning. Every year in the United States, an average of 300 people are injured and 80 people are killed by lightning. Although most lightning victims survive, people struck by lightning often report a variety of long-term, debilitating symptoms.

In the case of dry thunderstorms, rain does not reach the ground and evaporates instead. However, lightning from these storms can still reach the ground and can start wildfires.

While Orange County monitors weather in the region, severe weather can occur with little or no warning. Since severe storms can result in potential devastation, you should prepare for the dangers associated with various types of severe weather.

Learn more:

• Get a severe weather primer on thunderstorms and lightening from FEMA’s disaster Web site.
• Watch live weather cams and browse the weather library at the National Weather Center.
• Download coloring books about weather at the National Severe Storms Laboratory.
• Find a list of Orange County sandbag distribution locations at the Orange County Fire Authority
• Track weather patterns on an interactive map at the Weather Underground or The Weather Channel.