February 24, 2021 • 31 mins
Weather alerts, tornado sirens, watches, warnings! During Severe weather season all of the distractions are enough to make anyone a little "on-edge" but if you are suffering with dementia or are the care-partner of someone with dementia, it can be really challenging! On this podcast we talk to Meteorologist, James Spann about the importance of having a severe weather plan and continuing to build your care-thrive network to help deal with severe weather.
James Spann is one of the most recognized and trusted television meteorologists in the industry. He holds the AMS CCM designation and television seals from the AMS and NWA.
James Spann is one of the most recognized and trusted television meteorologists in the industry. He holds the AMS CCM designation and television seals from the AMS and NWA.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to Karen Thrive, a podcast to help you navigate
life with dementia. Whether you're living with dementia or a
care partner for someone with dementia, join us to learn
more about what to expect and practical approaches to adapt
your world to thrive. Now, welcome our hosts, certified dementia
practitioner and trainer, Judy Pritchard and Jerry Young.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
All right, joining us now is James Fan And James,
of course if you're in the South, the East, or
really in the United States, you know him as chief
meteorologist of ABC thirty three forty James, Welcome into the podcast.
Thank you for joining us this morning.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Jerry and Judy, thank you. It's an honor to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Let's talk a little bit about First of all, you
are obviously aware of when you say the magic words
like find your safe place or whatever, certainly what that
causes and houses and businesses with folks without dementia, and
so we're going to try to bring today what happens
in a home with a person with dementia and what
(01:34):
they should do differently to prepare to get to that
safe place. So let's start James with just talking about
what happens behind the scenes, so to speak, and what
causes you to issue warnings and to come on the
air twenty four to seven.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Let's start first with getting a warning. That's our biggest
problem period. Most people do not understand how they are
to receive a toin eight a warning and again we'll
use a tornado in an example here at Yeah, that's
our biggest issue. And I'll say this, We're coming up
(02:10):
on the tenth anniversary of a horrible, horrible tornado event
in the Southern States. This was April twenty seventh, twenty eleven.
Hard to believe it's been ten years, but on that
one day, two hundred and fifty two people died just
in my state. And these were precious people. They lived
in the city, they lived in the country. Some were old,
some were young, and in every case, there were sixty
(02:33):
two tornadoes that day. The warnings were excellent, and all
these people died, and we knew something is not right,
and we went to social scientists that can help us
understand human behavior. And the one thing we've learned is
that most people just don't know how to get warnings.
They honestly believe this is the number one reason people died,
and I don't want to get to sound preachy here,
but the number one reason people died that day, it
(02:55):
is the siren mentality, the notion that you're supposed to
hear some magical World War II air raid siren in
your home or in a business, or in a school
or in a church. It doesn't work that way. You
might hear it when they're testing it on a sunny day,
but you can't hear it during a raging storm at
(03:15):
three am or even at three PM. And I don't
understand to this day why most people in the United
States honestly think with all their heart they're going to
hear a siren. And that mentality is killed people over
and over and over and over. So that's why I
wanted to not jump ahead and pass get past this issue.
You've got to be able to hear these warnings. And
(03:38):
it really hit us. The next year, in twenty twelve,
we had a sixteen year old girl that was killed
in a suburb northeast to Birmingham, Clay Christina Heikelbeck. I
can close my eyes, I can see her face. And
the grieving father later that day said we didn't hear
the siren. This was a four am pre dawn tornado.
(03:58):
And understand, I'm not throwing her parents under the bus.
They want me to share this with you. I know
them that her parents are Daryl and Carrol Heikelbeck. And
I was so mad after that, I wanted to climb
up these poles, take those sirens down and burn them.
And that way you know that you won't hear them
because they don't exist. They serve a purpose. They reach
a limited number of people outdoors, and if they serve
(04:20):
that purpose, fine, let's leave them up. So anyway, the
bottom line is every house, I'm going around the world
to make my point, every house, everybody listening to this.
In your home, you've got to have something called a
weather radio. This is not a radio that picks up
you know, all hits all the time. This is a
weather broadcast from Noah, from the government, and it doesn't
(04:40):
make a sound until there's a warning, an active loud
alarm sounds in your house, and that's when you know
to go to your safe place if you're in the Polygon.
So that's the baseline. Every home nas to have one.
And then beyond that, everybody's got a phone. You know
we live in a phone world today. On these phones,
(05:01):
forget the apps, just forget that. Every phone in the
United States sold has built in the built in function
called Wireless Emergency Alerts or WEA, and by default, you're
going to get every tornado warning via wireless emergency alert.
That's that loud, loud tone that you hear. But we've
learned that some people get in there and turn that
(05:22):
thing off, and why would you do that? And we've
learned that some people don't like amber alerts, that the
things you get are amber alerts, tornado warnings, and flash
flood warnings. And I don't understand that. A goodness, wouldn't
you want to help someone whose child is missing? Why
would you turn that off? I don't understand it. But
the encouragement there is to leave WEA on the emergency alerts.
(05:42):
Don't turn that off. So weather radio, have WEA turned
on and you'll get the warning. Sorry, Jerry, that was
a long winding.
Speaker 4 (05:50):
No important stuff, and I'm glad you brought it all out.
One of the things that we want to hit on
today is getting prepared ahead of time, particularly if you
are being with dementia or you're caring for someone that's
living with dementia, and how these loud noise and loud sirens,
how they can cause such havoc for someone living with dementia,
(06:11):
even in the early stages, because they if there's something
unusual that happens and it's sudden and it's loud, it
adds chaos to their cognitive status and they often will panic,
and it adds so much stress and anxiety. Just like
when we were playing in the beginning of the podcast,
all those different sirens together, it's hard to discern what
(06:31):
you may be hearing. So preparing ahead of time is
such such a crucial step to take when you're in
this situation.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Right and again, I'm not a behavioral health expert. I'm
not a clinician. I know a lot of them, but
I'm not one, and every family it might be different.
But understand with weather radios, if that loud alarm, and
understand it's got to wake people up. You have to
have some mechanism to wake people up. But if for
some reason that is too disruptive. There's also an add
on that you can purchase with extreamly bright strobe lights,
(07:03):
so you've got the option of audio and video with
these weather radios that the main weather radio manufacture is
Middland Radio and they have all these options. You can
go to their website and see that, so you know,
in a case where and again understand, we have to
reach people that are visually impaired, people that are hearing impaired,
every people group we have to reach. But there are
(07:23):
different options that they have with those weather radios and
you can, you know, look at your website and see
what's best for you and your family. But that's the baseline.
And understand, weather radios don't work on the cell network.
You know, guess what, These phones will fail during a
weather emergency. These phones will often fail and that's on
an entirely different RF system that has nothing to do
with cell phones. So if you've got a weather radio
(07:46):
and you know we on your cell phone, then you'll
get that warning.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Yeah, So the alarting systems are so crucial. I am
in total agreement with that. And the thing that we
can do if we're living with dementia, we're hearing for
someone is practice with those alarms. So practice with the alarm,
even in the early stages where you may feel completely
comfortable with an alarm, practice with the alert systems so
(08:10):
that you can it's an automatic response know where your
safe spaces that we talked about, and we want to
get into that a little bit more, but routinely go
through that together, especially heading into the tornado season, if
you're in an area that has a tornado season or
a hurricane season, or blizzards or any any kind of
emergency situation. And let's talk a little more about safe spaces.
(08:33):
Do you, James, what do you recommend around safe spaces
in your home.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
There's a lot of misconception about what is a safe space.
And again we're talking tornadoes here and understand every hazard
can be defined differently, but we're going to focus on
tornadoes because that's really what I do. Number One, you
do not have to be underground. You do not have
to be underground.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
I didn't know that.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
With tornadoes, you've got a scale of tornado intensity. It's
called the EF Scale Enhanced FUJETA. The weakest tornado is
a zero, the strongest and most violent is a five.
Most tornadoes eighty percent are zeros and ones less than
one percent or e f fives. And I will say,
and I'll be you know, I'll shoot straight with you
(09:16):
I mean, if there is an e F five tornado
when you're not underground, you know you're in danger, but
the odds are so low you can't focus on that.
Most people don't have a way of getting underground. The
odds are solow that ever happening. We want people focused
in on what most tornadoes do. So Number one, you
don't have to be underground. Number two, it's got to
be a small room and hall, closet, bathroom, that's most
(09:40):
folks have that. Number Three, you want to be near
the center of the house, put as many walls between
you and the outside as you can, and finally be
in a place where there are no windows. And so
you get into that that and you've got to identify
that spot in advance. The time to do it is
not when there's a tornado two blocks away and what
are we going to do now? Need to do it
on a bright sunny day so you know exactly where
(10:03):
that is. And like you say, Judy, you can rehearse
the whole thing. Weather radios are tested once a week.
Once a week you have the chance to, you know,
see what it sounds like, you know, see the strobes.
If you've got strobes and then just practice going to
that safe place, so it's a routine. It's not hard
to do. And let me just say this, in that
safe place, you've got to have some stuff. Not a
(10:25):
lot of stuff, but some stuff. And number one, the
big deal, it's helmets. And this is another reason people
lost their life April twenty seven, twenty eleven, the lack
of helmet use. Most people that lose their life or
are seriously injured in a tornado. It's blunt forest trauma
to the skull region. And all you have to do
is put on a simple bicycle helmet. Those are cheap.
You can go down to Walmart Target buy those things
(10:47):
very inexpensively, a batting helmet. If you have kids that
play sports, a motorcycle helmet. You know, I bet you
Jerry's a easy rider. He probably rides his motorcycle around town.
So any detective headgear is important. And again it's just
as simple as a bicycle helmet. And understand this is
not just for kids, it's for adults. It's for every
I don't care how old you are, I put one on.
(11:09):
You know, a helmet on me is not a good look.
It's like lipstick on a hog. But it's crucial to
have that protective headgear. So you're gonna have helmets. You're
gonna have a portable airhorn for everybody, because if by
chance you take a direct hit, you might be injured
and you might not be able to vocalize your need
for help. And by squeezing that air horn, first responders
(11:32):
can find you and you can stick it in your
pocket or your purse. It's easy to do. They're very inexpensive.
And finally, the other big thing we push it's hard
sole shoes. I cannot tell you how many people have
had their feet shredded walking through tornado debris to get
to help, where they had on tennis shoes or they
were barefooted or in socks. So again, the three items
in that safe place, you're gonna have hard sol shoes,
(11:55):
portable air horns for everybody, in helmets.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
James, I've always heard that that if you get in
a closet that has some more substantial uh and I'll
say piece of furniture in it, and you lay beside
that if something fail or came through, it would create
a space for you to be in to be safer.
Is that true?
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Yes, it's not a bad idea. It kind of depending
on how the furniture is built, and that the problem
is not every piece of furniture is identical in terms
of how it's built. But if it's really really sturdy,
getting under that, that's great. Yeah, the object is just
to protect your skull region up in through here. You know,
your body can take a lot of blows and a
lot of shrapnel, but when it starts up here in
the head region, you got problems. So yeah, if you
(12:37):
get under something, that's fine. And I've got to mention this.
I don't mean to hog the conversation, but our biggest problem,
and it comes to safe place. What do you think
it is?
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Well that you should know, don't I don't know?
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Mobile? Mobile and listen and let me just say this.
They are it's mobile homes are wonderful affordable housing. They're
a god send. I'm the biggest fan of manufactured housing
because I understand how they have been used and so
many families have a marvelous lifestyle and a beautiful home
(13:11):
because of manufactured housing. I'm not anti manufactured housing. I'm
not anti car. Hey, I could get in my car
and I can drive to work and I can be
there in fifteen minutes. If I walked, it might take
three days. But you cannot be in a mobile home
during a tornado like you cannot be in a car.
You can't. They can go airborne and it doesn't matter
(13:31):
if they're tied down, It just really doesn't. They're a
death trap. And I don't mean to say that, but
sometimes you have to be bold in my business and
say that. So we have a lot of families that
live in manufactured housing, mobile homes, whatever you call them,
and again where I'm from, to call them trailers, you know.
I mean, I like to speak the language that people
(13:53):
use where they live. And you go to the you
hang out dollar generals, you can find out how people
talk and how they refer to housing, and they mostly
call them trailers.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Yeah, So you got to get out, and that's a
complicating factor, especially if you've got a situation with dementia
in the home. But this is a case where you
have to make a decision on getting out, When do
you get out and where are you going? That's the
biggest thing. And understand, you've got to know where your
local community shelter is and what's the policy of when
do they open that and if there's no community shelter,
(14:27):
go to a twenty four hour truck stop, go to
any place that is a site built structure, and you'll
be okay. And only you can identify that that's something
you and your family have to do. And you've also
got to decide when do you go. Most tornado warnings,
the lead time is about fourteen to fifteen minutes, and
for some people that shelter might be thirty minutes away,
(14:48):
which means you might have to leave during a tornado
watch and not wait on a warning. And we're trying
to come up in the weather enterprise some type of
intermediate product for this very reason people that live in
manufactured housing. But I just wanted to mention that point.
If you're in a mobile home, you've got to really
do some thinking on that. One of the things heavy
(15:09):
thought process.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
One of the things we talk about a lot is
developing your dementia thrive network, that network of people and
professionals that will help you navigate your disease. And this
is a great time to talk about that because one
of these groups need to be if you live in
a mobile home, somebody that has a more sound structure,
(15:29):
if it's a neighbor, if it's someone down the street,
a relative that you can go and make that your
safe space. Then already have that arrangement with them. Put
that in your practice when you're proactively planning for this,
and have that arranged so that if you are living
in a mobile home, you have someplace that's more soundly
supportive that you can go to and that can be
(15:51):
part of your dementia thrive network. The other thing that
we talk about a lot is this is a great
time to discuss how getting connected with your emergency responder
in your local area. Give them a call. Just about
all of them nowadays have a registry where you can
let them know that you have dementia or that you're
caring for someone with dementia, so that they're prepared if
(16:13):
they know there's an emergency happening, if they know there's
been an area that has damaged from a tornado or
other natural disaster, they already know that there's someone there
that has cognitive needs and they're on the lookout in
case there's increased wandering because of the confusion or the
chaos that's happening. So get in contact with your emergency responders.
(16:34):
Let them know about your conditions so that they can
be able to respond to you specifically.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
James two, it's very rare that you have to go
to a safe space for longer than, you know, fifteen
to thirty forty five minutes, maybe one of those rare
days where you seem to be in there all the time.
Then there may be extra items that you need to bring,
especially if you're diabetic, those kind of things that you
might not be able to leave that space for a
(17:04):
few minutes. So talk about again. I know you mentioned shoes,
I know you mentioned other important things to have there
with you, especially the helmet. What items do you think
if you are there and plan to be there for
longer than an hour, should you have with you?
Speaker 3 (17:20):
The biggest issue it's be sure you can charge your phone.
We want people watching us on their phone. We don't
want them watching on a big wall TV because they're
not going to stay in that room where the TV's located.
They're going to maybe go to a shelter, a community shelter,
where they might wind up staying there for five or
six hours. And again that's a very unusual thing. We
(17:42):
don't expect people to do that. If you've ever been
in one of these things. It is tight, it is cramped,
it is not a pleasant experience. But in some of
these big events, like an outbreak where you just have
tornado after tornado after tornado, you might wind up being there.
So the most the thing we hear more than anything else.
I can't watch you, I lost touch with you. We
(18:02):
don't know what's going on. You've got to be sure
you've got some battery chargers. And again, there are a
lot of people that do have to have medication and
they have to take that medication at certain times, and
you've got to have a way of transporting that to
that facility and take a couple of bottles of water
along with you, because the way those community shelters work,
(18:25):
it is not you're not going to the Hilton here, okay,
I mean you are not going to the Hyatt. You
are going into a bare bones structure where you're going
to be sitting basically on a bench with a bunch
of other people in a cramped environment, and within that
there's just not much in there. So just being just
imagine that you don't have anything, so medication, battery charger,
(18:49):
bottled water. I would also recommend headphones because the noise
environment could be awfully brutal in those things. And if
you've got some type of and maybe not even headphones,
but just up of ear coverings to knock that noise out,
it's tough in there, noise canceling little earbuds or a godsend.
(19:13):
And again that's not a knock on anybody else in there,
but the noise. And sometimes they talk about things that
are scary and it's just overwhelming. So you can get
that sound out, that's good.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
Yeah, And it actually helps relieve stress too. If you
have I showing my age, but an iPod or a
music device or even on your phone where you have
your headphones and you can put your soothing music on.
If you have dementia, that could really help relieve some anxiety.
Another item I would recommend that you have is some
sort of identification armband so that if you know inclement
(19:43):
weather is coming, you can automatically put it on. And
that way, should Heaven forbid that should you have an
injury you can't respond or you get so confused that
you can't understand questions that are getting asked to you,
you have it on your armband and you at least
have some way of your first responders when they find you,
identifying who you are and getting you the help you
(20:03):
need faster jam.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Time important is it to practice what you're going to
do ahead of time. I know, folks with dementia, you
know repetition is important, keeping the schedule, that sort of thing.
But you mentioned that every week you can test your
weather radio, you can also at that time be a
good time to practice what you would do in the
event that you call for a safe place.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Yeah, I do it at least once a month. Even
if you're an old timer and you've been in tornado
country forever, I'd still once a month when that test
goes off. When you hear the test tornado warning, just
walk down to your safe place and see what's in there.
Be sure you've got helmets, and be sure everything is
in there. But by walking in there, looking around, be
sure it's stocked up. Then I think that's a good thing.
I'd recommend doing that once a month. And understand, you know,
(20:51):
you might go a year or two with having to
use a safe place, so maybe three years, and you know,
sometimes you need to clean the cobwebs out of that thing.
I mean, it's like in our house. We do have
a basement. We have a room built down there to
withstand a really big tornado. But sometimes you just got
to go check it out. And I will say another thing.
You know, that's a lot of folks out in the country,
y'all look like city slickers. I mean, I'm from Butler County, Alabama.
(21:14):
I am from Greenville, Alabama. I mean, and out in
the country, we have storm pits. And I bet y'all
have never been in a storm pit. You know, they're
dug into the hillside. Okay, let me tell you what.
You were as snug as a bug and a rug
in that thing. But again, you know you need to
go in there and check out that storm pit and
(21:34):
just be sure you know, everything's ready to go, because
it gets kind of musty and kind of rough in
there after you know, year or two without being in there.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Well, I got you beat with Greenville. Mine's abernet, if
that gives you an idea. So yeah, I know exactly
what you're talking about. We talked about practice, and we
talked about safe space, and we talked about but I want,
I want you to explain it. And it amazes me
too that people don't know the difference between a what
and a warning? Explain why that.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
Let me tell you though, I'm from the North, and
I grew up in an area in Pennsylvania where when
I was growing up we had very I mean to
hear if a tornado was foreign. And so when I
came down here, I had the hardest time learning and
automatically understanding the difference between a watch and a warning
because to me it was watch out here it is
(22:22):
and so warning was okay, get ready. So I, in
my mind, I completely and this was back in late eighties.
So I would love for you to go through watch
in mourning, because this, too, is something else to go through.
And practice is understanding that.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
You know, we are often guilty of just assuming people
have lived here all their lives and know this stuff.
And people move in often, like you say, from areas
that don't deal with tornadoes, and it's bewildering to them.
All of a sudden, the TV goes off the program
they're watching, and here comes this guy and he's showing
all these you know, radar pictures and it's just bewildering.
(22:59):
So yeah, the bottom line is if we think, if
we see everything in place for development, of tornadoes, all
the parameters. You know, you've got instability, you've got strong winds,
of lofts, you've got everything just right. A tornado watch
is issued, and that means the conditions are favorable for tornadoes.
You need to do anything other than be sure that
(23:19):
you're tuned in to be sure you can hear warnings.
That's that main message. There's a good chance we're going
to have severe weather. It's not happening now, but during
the next five or six hours, we expect severe weather
to happen, and you need to be in a position
to hear warnings. So don't get off the grid. And
being off the grid is great, you know. I mean,
people get sick of looking at these phones and everything else.
But no, no, no, no, you can't do that. So
(23:41):
a watch means that everything is in place, but it
doesn't necessarily mean anything is happening at that point. And
then when you know that there's a tornado down, that's
when a warning is issued. And again, the lead times
can vary greatly. For some of the large, violent tornadoes,
you might get forty minutes forty minutes lead time. That's
pretty unusual. Most tornadoes are small and they don't last long,
(24:03):
and often the lead time is ten to fifteen minutes.
That's about the average lead time here. And one other
thing about these warnings that people need to understand, and
we don't use counties. We use polygons, geometric shapes. Tornadoes
are small and counties are big. So if you hear
that your county is in a tornado warning, that doesn't
necessarily mean you're in it. You need to look and
(24:24):
see the definition of that polygon and you can see
if you're in or out. That's the first thing I
do in this is a tornado warning. First off, let
me tell you who's in. Let me tell you who's out.
And one more note Judy and Jerry, and this is
an important skill set, very important. With today's phones and
turn by turn directions, we've lost our ability to read maps. Yes,
(24:44):
we have a real geography literacy problem in this country.
We have to use maps, and often people see that
and it's like Russian they have no earthly idea what
it is or where they are in relation to that.
So I would encourage you, wherever you are, to be
able to find your house on a map. We did
a study a few years ago and we ask people
(25:05):
to draw a dot within fifty miles of their house
on a map with counties and state lines. Less than
eight percent of the people could do that. So that's
where we are today. So be sure as we start
talking about these watches in mornings, you can find your
house on a map, know your county, know the adjacent counties,
and that will be a big, big, big help.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
What about if you're traveling, James, A lot of people
still travel with their work, even when they are in
the very early stages of young onset dementia. They're traveling,
what do you recommend if you're traveling and staying off
somewhere in a hotel, what are your thoughts?
Speaker 3 (25:38):
So, again, getting the message that's the most important thing.
And when you're traveling, it's going to be your phone.
And so let's say you're going down the road and
you get a WIA alert and again it is loud.
It's not like an app notification. This is that loud,
blaring tone. You need to pull over right away because
(25:58):
a car is the worst possible place to be. You
cannot be in a car during a tornado. If you're traveling,
you cannot. So what you pull over to see? What
it is. Don't do it while you're driving. I mean,
that's just as dangerous in some cases as a tornado.
You're fiddling with your phone while you're driving, you pull
over on the side, you look at it, and if
you've got that wheel alert, you're in the polygon. And
what you need to do if you're on an interstate,
get off at the next exit, the next exit and
(26:21):
go into a gas station or a restaurant or a
convenience store and they will let you go in there
and just ride it out in that structure until it passes.
So that's the most urgent thing is get out of
a car. You cannot be in a car. Just don't
be in a car during a tornado. Most people that
lose their life they're in cars and mobile homes. And
(26:41):
then if you're in a hotel, just go down to
the lobby and most hotels will guide you on where
to go. Most hotels are pretty good about that. Most
of the big change they've got. Every hotel has an
organized structure and where to put people during a tornado warning.
But just go to the lobby and you'll find that
where to go from.
Speaker 4 (27:00):
There absolutely and make sure. Another good thought is when
you're checking in, if you can remember, ask what county
you're in, because some areas still do refer to it
as counties. I don't know if all weather stations have
gone to the Polygon system.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Yes they have, that is a nationwide think. But understand,
even then with that, still you'll hear county names. Yeah,
it will be a part of a county, but you'll
still hear the county names. So yeah, that's a great
and that's a great point even and again, where I've
been in this market for forty two years, I know
this place like the back of my hand. But let's
say that I'm in Detroit, where I'm in you know, Walla, Walla,
(27:32):
I don't know what county I mean, that'd be in
the same boat as everybody else. That's a great, great idea.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
And that's live and learn. I've done that before where
I've been in the South and been in a hotel
and a tornado actually hit our hotel and we had
we luckily had called down and asked what county are
we in, and we had been in the hallway, so
thankfully nobody was hurt, but it did cause a lot
of damage. We actually had to move out that hotel.
So yeah, that was trial by and by living through it.
(27:59):
But okay, any other last thoughts, James, This has been
such a yueable and I mean.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
To talk so long, I've hogged the whole show here.
But I understand we talk tornadoes a lot here, but
we have other hazards like hurricanes. For people that live
on the Gulf coast, the system works pretty much the
same way. There's a hurricane watch. The only difference with hurricanes.
Instead of getting ten to fifteen minutes lee time, you're
going to get one to two days lead time, twenty
four to forty eight hours. So if you're in a
(28:26):
coastal market, just understand you've got to know where you're
going and know the hurricane evacuation route. And again, local
authorities have this on their website. Emergency management agencies know
that evacuation site, and you make your plans to get out,
please please obey the evacuation orders. And quite frankly, it's
(28:47):
mostly men that have a problem with that. You know,
men can be awfully stubborn and boneheaded.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
I wouldn't know.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
And look, I'm raising my hand, but you have to
move past your pride and think you're a tough mind, man,
that stuff's not working. So just follow the evacuation orders.
And again with hurricanes, you might be displaced for a
week or longer. And so as you pack up and go,
you've got to think about medicine, all the things we've
talked about in the shelter. You're thinking about days here
(29:16):
and maybe a week that you'll be gone from your home.
And don't forget the flash floods. That's another big thing too.
Flash flood watches in mornings. A lot of people lose
their life in flash floods as well. So just and again,
but the key thing, don't be afraid of any of this.
We never want to instill fear. The odds of you
having to go through a catastrophic weather event in your
life are always small, but you have to understand it.
(29:36):
You have to be prepared and if you do the
things we've talked about today, you'll be fine.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
James, tell everybody where they can find you, where are
you and if they want to listen to you or
get updates or whatever.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
Oh goodness. On the on the tweeter, I'm just Span.
My last name two ends Facebook. It's Facebook dot com
slash James Span with no space and just find on
social media on Instagram at SPANWX and all the products
and services we produce on the digital side we put
up on the social side as well.
Speaker 4 (30:07):
Excellent and well we'll add all these links onto our
Facebook page and our website. James, we can't thank you enough.
This is such great information and we appreciate you coming
on and sharing all your knowledge base with us so
that we can help everyone be prepared and prepared ahead
of time.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
Thank you for the opportunity, appreciate it. You'll have a
great day.
Speaker 4 (30:25):
Thank you too.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Okay, that's James Spam and this has been dementia real
talk right here with Judy Pritchard, Jerry Young and Judy.
I can tell you that was just the most informative information.
And everybody has to.
Speaker 4 (30:37):
Deal with weather absolutely and thanks everyone for listening in
and stay safe and thrive on.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
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(31:25):
Karnthrive dot org. Subscribe to this podcast through your favorite
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Speaker 3 (31:38):
The purpose of this podcast is to educate, into and form.
It is not a substitute for professional care by a
doctor or other qualified medical professionals.
Welcome to Karen Thrive, a podcast to help you navigate
life with dementia. Whether you're living with dementia or a
care partner for someone with dementia, join us to learn
more about what to expect and practical approaches to adapt
your world to thrive. Now, welcome our hosts, certified dementia
practitioner and trainer, Judy Pritchard and Jerry Young.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
All right, joining us now is James Fan And James,
of course if you're in the South, the East, or
really in the United States, you know him as chief
meteorologist of ABC thirty three forty James, Welcome into the podcast.
Thank you for joining us this morning.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
Jerry and Judy, thank you. It's an honor to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Let's talk a little bit about First of all, you
are obviously aware of when you say the magic words
like find your safe place or whatever, certainly what that
causes and houses and businesses with folks without dementia, and
so we're going to try to bring today what happens
in a home with a person with dementia and what
(01:34):
they should do differently to prepare to get to that
safe place. So let's start James with just talking about
what happens behind the scenes, so to speak, and what
causes you to issue warnings and to come on the
air twenty four to seven.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Let's start first with getting a warning. That's our biggest
problem period. Most people do not understand how they are
to receive a toin eight a warning and again we'll
use a tornado in an example here at Yeah, that's
our biggest issue. And I'll say this, We're coming up
(02:10):
on the tenth anniversary of a horrible, horrible tornado event
in the Southern States. This was April twenty seventh, twenty eleven.
Hard to believe it's been ten years, but on that
one day, two hundred and fifty two people died just
in my state. And these were precious people. They lived
in the city, they lived in the country. Some were old,
some were young, and in every case, there were sixty
(02:33):
two tornadoes that day. The warnings were excellent, and all
these people died, and we knew something is not right,
and we went to social scientists that can help us
understand human behavior. And the one thing we've learned is
that most people just don't know how to get warnings.
They honestly believe this is the number one reason people died,
and I don't want to get to sound preachy here,
but the number one reason people died that day, it
(02:55):
is the siren mentality, the notion that you're supposed to
hear some magical World War II air raid siren in
your home or in a business, or in a school
or in a church. It doesn't work that way. You
might hear it when they're testing it on a sunny day,
but you can't hear it during a raging storm at
(03:15):
three am or even at three PM. And I don't
understand to this day why most people in the United
States honestly think with all their heart they're going to
hear a siren. And that mentality is killed people over
and over and over and over. So that's why I
wanted to not jump ahead and pass get past this issue.
You've got to be able to hear these warnings. And
(03:38):
it really hit us. The next year, in twenty twelve,
we had a sixteen year old girl that was killed
in a suburb northeast to Birmingham, Clay Christina Heikelbeck. I
can close my eyes, I can see her face. And
the grieving father later that day said we didn't hear
the siren. This was a four am pre dawn tornado.
(03:58):
And understand, I'm not throwing her parents under the bus.
They want me to share this with you. I know
them that her parents are Daryl and Carrol Heikelbeck. And
I was so mad after that, I wanted to climb
up these poles, take those sirens down and burn them.
And that way you know that you won't hear them
because they don't exist. They serve a purpose. They reach
a limited number of people outdoors, and if they serve
(04:20):
that purpose, fine, let's leave them up. So anyway, the
bottom line is every house, I'm going around the world
to make my point, every house, everybody listening to this.
In your home, you've got to have something called a
weather radio. This is not a radio that picks up
you know, all hits all the time. This is a
weather broadcast from Noah, from the government, and it doesn't
(04:40):
make a sound until there's a warning, an active loud
alarm sounds in your house, and that's when you know
to go to your safe place if you're in the Polygon.
So that's the baseline. Every home nas to have one.
And then beyond that, everybody's got a phone. You know
we live in a phone world today. On these phones,
(05:01):
forget the apps, just forget that. Every phone in the
United States sold has built in the built in function
called Wireless Emergency Alerts or WEA, and by default, you're
going to get every tornado warning via wireless emergency alert.
That's that loud, loud tone that you hear. But we've
learned that some people get in there and turn that
(05:22):
thing off, and why would you do that? And we've
learned that some people don't like amber alerts, that the
things you get are amber alerts, tornado warnings, and flash
flood warnings. And I don't understand that. A goodness, wouldn't
you want to help someone whose child is missing? Why
would you turn that off? I don't understand it. But
the encouragement there is to leave WEA on the emergency alerts.
(05:42):
Don't turn that off. So weather radio, have WEA turned
on and you'll get the warning. Sorry, Jerry, that was
a long winding.
Speaker 4 (05:50):
No important stuff, and I'm glad you brought it all out.
One of the things that we want to hit on
today is getting prepared ahead of time, particularly if you
are being with dementia or you're caring for someone that's
living with dementia, and how these loud noise and loud sirens,
how they can cause such havoc for someone living with dementia,
(06:11):
even in the early stages, because they if there's something
unusual that happens and it's sudden and it's loud, it
adds chaos to their cognitive status and they often will panic,
and it adds so much stress and anxiety. Just like
when we were playing in the beginning of the podcast,
all those different sirens together, it's hard to discern what
(06:31):
you may be hearing. So preparing ahead of time is
such such a crucial step to take when you're in
this situation.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Right and again, I'm not a behavioral health expert. I'm
not a clinician. I know a lot of them, but
I'm not one, and every family it might be different.
But understand with weather radios, if that loud alarm, and
understand it's got to wake people up. You have to
have some mechanism to wake people up. But if for
some reason that is too disruptive. There's also an add
on that you can purchase with extreamly bright strobe lights,
(07:03):
so you've got the option of audio and video with
these weather radios that the main weather radio manufacture is
Middland Radio and they have all these options. You can
go to their website and see that, so you know,
in a case where and again understand, we have to
reach people that are visually impaired, people that are hearing impaired,
every people group we have to reach. But there are
(07:23):
different options that they have with those weather radios and
you can, you know, look at your website and see
what's best for you and your family. But that's the baseline.
And understand, weather radios don't work on the cell network.
You know, guess what, These phones will fail during a
weather emergency. These phones will often fail and that's on
an entirely different RF system that has nothing to do
with cell phones. So if you've got a weather radio
(07:46):
and you know we on your cell phone, then you'll
get that warning.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Yeah, So the alarting systems are so crucial. I am
in total agreement with that. And the thing that we
can do if we're living with dementia, we're hearing for
someone is practice with those alarms. So practice with the alarm,
even in the early stages where you may feel completely
comfortable with an alarm, practice with the alert systems so
(08:10):
that you can it's an automatic response know where your
safe spaces that we talked about, and we want to
get into that a little bit more, but routinely go
through that together, especially heading into the tornado season, if
you're in an area that has a tornado season or
a hurricane season, or blizzards or any any kind of
emergency situation. And let's talk a little more about safe spaces.
(08:33):
Do you, James, what do you recommend around safe spaces
in your home.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
There's a lot of misconception about what is a safe space.
And again we're talking tornadoes here and understand every hazard
can be defined differently, but we're going to focus on
tornadoes because that's really what I do. Number One, you
do not have to be underground. You do not have
to be underground.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
I didn't know that.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
With tornadoes, you've got a scale of tornado intensity. It's
called the EF Scale Enhanced FUJETA. The weakest tornado is
a zero, the strongest and most violent is a five.
Most tornadoes eighty percent are zeros and ones less than
one percent or e f fives. And I will say,
and I'll be you know, I'll shoot straight with you
(09:16):
I mean, if there is an e F five tornado
when you're not underground, you know you're in danger, but
the odds are so low you can't focus on that.
Most people don't have a way of getting underground. The
odds are solow that ever happening. We want people focused
in on what most tornadoes do. So Number one, you
don't have to be underground. Number two, it's got to
be a small room and hall, closet, bathroom, that's most
(09:40):
folks have that. Number Three, you want to be near
the center of the house, put as many walls between
you and the outside as you can, and finally be
in a place where there are no windows. And so
you get into that that and you've got to identify
that spot in advance. The time to do it is
not when there's a tornado two blocks away and what
are we going to do now? Need to do it
on a bright sunny day so you know exactly where
(10:03):
that is. And like you say, Judy, you can rehearse
the whole thing. Weather radios are tested once a week.
Once a week you have the chance to, you know,
see what it sounds like, you know, see the strobes.
If you've got strobes and then just practice going to
that safe place, so it's a routine. It's not hard
to do. And let me just say this, in that
safe place, you've got to have some stuff. Not a
(10:25):
lot of stuff, but some stuff. And number one, the
big deal, it's helmets. And this is another reason people
lost their life April twenty seven, twenty eleven, the lack
of helmet use. Most people that lose their life or
are seriously injured in a tornado. It's blunt forest trauma
to the skull region. And all you have to do
is put on a simple bicycle helmet. Those are cheap.
You can go down to Walmart Target buy those things
(10:47):
very inexpensively, a batting helmet. If you have kids that
play sports, a motorcycle helmet. You know, I bet you
Jerry's a easy rider. He probably rides his motorcycle around town.
So any detective headgear is important. And again it's just
as simple as a bicycle helmet. And understand this is
not just for kids, it's for adults. It's for every
I don't care how old you are, I put one on.
(11:09):
You know, a helmet on me is not a good look.
It's like lipstick on a hog. But it's crucial to
have that protective headgear. So you're gonna have helmets. You're
gonna have a portable airhorn for everybody, because if by
chance you take a direct hit, you might be injured
and you might not be able to vocalize your need
for help. And by squeezing that air horn, first responders
(11:32):
can find you and you can stick it in your
pocket or your purse. It's easy to do. They're very inexpensive.
And finally, the other big thing we push it's hard
sole shoes. I cannot tell you how many people have
had their feet shredded walking through tornado debris to get
to help, where they had on tennis shoes or they
were barefooted or in socks. So again, the three items
in that safe place, you're gonna have hard sol shoes,
(11:55):
portable air horns for everybody, in helmets.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
James, I've always heard that that if you get in
a closet that has some more substantial uh and I'll
say piece of furniture in it, and you lay beside
that if something fail or came through, it would create
a space for you to be in to be safer.
Is that true?
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Yes, it's not a bad idea. It kind of depending
on how the furniture is built, and that the problem
is not every piece of furniture is identical in terms
of how it's built. But if it's really really sturdy,
getting under that, that's great. Yeah, the object is just
to protect your skull region up in through here. You know,
your body can take a lot of blows and a
lot of shrapnel, but when it starts up here in
the head region, you got problems. So yeah, if you
(12:37):
get under something, that's fine. And I've got to mention this.
I don't mean to hog the conversation, but our biggest problem,
and it comes to safe place. What do you think
it is?
Speaker 2 (12:47):
Well that you should know, don't I don't know?
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Mobile? Mobile and listen and let me just say this.
They are it's mobile homes are wonderful affordable housing. They're
a god send. I'm the biggest fan of manufactured housing
because I understand how they have been used and so
many families have a marvelous lifestyle and a beautiful home
(13:11):
because of manufactured housing. I'm not anti manufactured housing. I'm
not anti car. Hey, I could get in my car
and I can drive to work and I can be
there in fifteen minutes. If I walked, it might take
three days. But you cannot be in a mobile home
during a tornado like you cannot be in a car.
You can't. They can go airborne and it doesn't matter
(13:31):
if they're tied down, It just really doesn't. They're a
death trap. And I don't mean to say that, but
sometimes you have to be bold in my business and
say that. So we have a lot of families that
live in manufactured housing, mobile homes, whatever you call them,
and again where I'm from, to call them trailers, you know.
I mean, I like to speak the language that people
(13:53):
use where they live. And you go to the you
hang out dollar generals, you can find out how people
talk and how they refer to housing, and they mostly
call them trailers.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Yeah, So you got to get out, and that's a
complicating factor, especially if you've got a situation with dementia
in the home. But this is a case where you
have to make a decision on getting out, When do
you get out and where are you going? That's the
biggest thing. And understand, you've got to know where your
local community shelter is and what's the policy of when
do they open that and if there's no community shelter,
(14:27):
go to a twenty four hour truck stop, go to
any place that is a site built structure, and you'll
be okay. And only you can identify that that's something
you and your family have to do. And you've also
got to decide when do you go. Most tornado warnings,
the lead time is about fourteen to fifteen minutes, and
for some people that shelter might be thirty minutes away,
(14:48):
which means you might have to leave during a tornado
watch and not wait on a warning. And we're trying
to come up in the weather enterprise some type of
intermediate product for this very reason people that live in
manufactured housing. But I just wanted to mention that point.
If you're in a mobile home, you've got to really
do some thinking on that. One of the things heavy
(15:09):
thought process.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
One of the things we talk about a lot is
developing your dementia thrive network, that network of people and
professionals that will help you navigate your disease. And this
is a great time to talk about that because one
of these groups need to be if you live in
a mobile home, somebody that has a more sound structure,
(15:29):
if it's a neighbor, if it's someone down the street,
a relative that you can go and make that your
safe space. Then already have that arrangement with them. Put
that in your practice when you're proactively planning for this,
and have that arranged so that if you are living
in a mobile home, you have someplace that's more soundly
supportive that you can go to and that can be
(15:51):
part of your dementia thrive network. The other thing that
we talk about a lot is this is a great
time to discuss how getting connected with your emergency responder
in your local area. Give them a call. Just about
all of them nowadays have a registry where you can
let them know that you have dementia or that you're
caring for someone with dementia, so that they're prepared if
(16:13):
they know there's an emergency happening, if they know there's
been an area that has damaged from a tornado or
other natural disaster, they already know that there's someone there
that has cognitive needs and they're on the lookout in
case there's increased wandering because of the confusion or the
chaos that's happening. So get in contact with your emergency responders.
(16:34):
Let them know about your conditions so that they can
be able to respond to you specifically.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
James two, it's very rare that you have to go
to a safe space for longer than, you know, fifteen
to thirty forty five minutes, maybe one of those rare
days where you seem to be in there all the time.
Then there may be extra items that you need to bring,
especially if you're diabetic, those kind of things that you
might not be able to leave that space for a
(17:04):
few minutes. So talk about again. I know you mentioned shoes,
I know you mentioned other important things to have there
with you, especially the helmet. What items do you think
if you are there and plan to be there for
longer than an hour, should you have with you?
Speaker 3 (17:20):
The biggest issue it's be sure you can charge your phone.
We want people watching us on their phone. We don't
want them watching on a big wall TV because they're
not going to stay in that room where the TV's located.
They're going to maybe go to a shelter, a community shelter,
where they might wind up staying there for five or
six hours. And again that's a very unusual thing. We
(17:42):
don't expect people to do that. If you've ever been
in one of these things. It is tight, it is cramped,
it is not a pleasant experience. But in some of
these big events, like an outbreak where you just have
tornado after tornado after tornado, you might wind up being there.
So the most the thing we hear more than anything else.
I can't watch you, I lost touch with you. We
(18:02):
don't know what's going on. You've got to be sure
you've got some battery chargers. And again, there are a
lot of people that do have to have medication and
they have to take that medication at certain times, and
you've got to have a way of transporting that to
that facility and take a couple of bottles of water
along with you, because the way those community shelters work,
(18:25):
it is not you're not going to the Hilton here, okay,
I mean you are not going to the Hyatt. You
are going into a bare bones structure where you're going
to be sitting basically on a bench with a bunch
of other people in a cramped environment, and within that
there's just not much in there. So just being just
imagine that you don't have anything, so medication, battery charger,
(18:49):
bottled water. I would also recommend headphones because the noise
environment could be awfully brutal in those things. And if
you've got some type of and maybe not even headphones,
but just up of ear coverings to knock that noise out,
it's tough in there, noise canceling little earbuds or a godsend.
(19:13):
And again that's not a knock on anybody else in there,
but the noise. And sometimes they talk about things that
are scary and it's just overwhelming. So you can get
that sound out, that's good.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
Yeah, And it actually helps relieve stress too. If you
have I showing my age, but an iPod or a
music device or even on your phone where you have
your headphones and you can put your soothing music on.
If you have dementia, that could really help relieve some anxiety.
Another item I would recommend that you have is some
sort of identification armband so that if you know inclement
(19:43):
weather is coming, you can automatically put it on. And
that way, should Heaven forbid that should you have an
injury you can't respond or you get so confused that
you can't understand questions that are getting asked to you,
you have it on your armband and you at least
have some way of your first responders when they find you,
identifying who you are and getting you the help you
(20:03):
need faster jam.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Time important is it to practice what you're going to
do ahead of time. I know, folks with dementia, you
know repetition is important, keeping the schedule, that sort of thing.
But you mentioned that every week you can test your
weather radio, you can also at that time be a
good time to practice what you would do in the
event that you call for a safe place.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Yeah, I do it at least once a month. Even
if you're an old timer and you've been in tornado
country forever, I'd still once a month when that test
goes off. When you hear the test tornado warning, just
walk down to your safe place and see what's in there.
Be sure you've got helmets, and be sure everything is
in there. But by walking in there, looking around, be
sure it's stocked up. Then I think that's a good thing.
I'd recommend doing that once a month. And understand, you know,
(20:51):
you might go a year or two with having to
use a safe place, so maybe three years, and you know,
sometimes you need to clean the cobwebs out of that thing.
I mean, it's like in our house. We do have
a basement. We have a room built down there to
withstand a really big tornado. But sometimes you just got
to go check it out. And I will say another thing.
You know, that's a lot of folks out in the country,
y'all look like city slickers. I mean, I'm from Butler County, Alabama.
(21:14):
I am from Greenville, Alabama. I mean, and out in
the country, we have storm pits. And I bet y'all
have never been in a storm pit. You know, they're
dug into the hillside. Okay, let me tell you what.
You were as snug as a bug and a rug
in that thing. But again, you know you need to
go in there and check out that storm pit and
(21:34):
just be sure you know, everything's ready to go, because
it gets kind of musty and kind of rough in
there after you know, year or two without being in there.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Well, I got you beat with Greenville. Mine's abernet, if
that gives you an idea. So yeah, I know exactly
what you're talking about. We talked about practice, and we
talked about safe space, and we talked about but I want,
I want you to explain it. And it amazes me
too that people don't know the difference between a what
and a warning? Explain why that.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
Let me tell you though, I'm from the North, and
I grew up in an area in Pennsylvania where when
I was growing up we had very I mean to
hear if a tornado was foreign. And so when I
came down here, I had the hardest time learning and
automatically understanding the difference between a watch and a warning
because to me it was watch out here it is
(22:22):
and so warning was okay, get ready. So I, in
my mind, I completely and this was back in late eighties.
So I would love for you to go through watch
in mourning, because this, too, is something else to go through.
And practice is understanding that.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
You know, we are often guilty of just assuming people
have lived here all their lives and know this stuff.
And people move in often, like you say, from areas
that don't deal with tornadoes, and it's bewildering to them.
All of a sudden, the TV goes off the program
they're watching, and here comes this guy and he's showing
all these you know, radar pictures and it's just bewildering.
(22:59):
So yeah, the bottom line is if we think, if
we see everything in place for development, of tornadoes, all
the parameters. You know, you've got instability, you've got strong winds,
of lofts, you've got everything just right. A tornado watch
is issued, and that means the conditions are favorable for tornadoes.
You need to do anything other than be sure that
(23:19):
you're tuned in to be sure you can hear warnings.
That's that main message. There's a good chance we're going
to have severe weather. It's not happening now, but during
the next five or six hours, we expect severe weather
to happen, and you need to be in a position
to hear warnings. So don't get off the grid. And
being off the grid is great, you know. I mean,
people get sick of looking at these phones and everything else.
But no, no, no, no, you can't do that. So
(23:41):
a watch means that everything is in place, but it
doesn't necessarily mean anything is happening at that point. And
then when you know that there's a tornado down, that's
when a warning is issued. And again, the lead times
can vary greatly. For some of the large, violent tornadoes,
you might get forty minutes forty minutes lead time. That's
pretty unusual. Most tornadoes are small and they don't last long,
(24:03):
and often the lead time is ten to fifteen minutes.
That's about the average lead time here. And one other
thing about these warnings that people need to understand, and
we don't use counties. We use polygons, geometric shapes. Tornadoes
are small and counties are big. So if you hear
that your county is in a tornado warning, that doesn't
necessarily mean you're in it. You need to look and
(24:24):
see the definition of that polygon and you can see
if you're in or out. That's the first thing I
do in this is a tornado warning. First off, let
me tell you who's in. Let me tell you who's out.
And one more note Judy and Jerry, and this is
an important skill set, very important. With today's phones and
turn by turn directions, we've lost our ability to read maps. Yes,
(24:44):
we have a real geography literacy problem in this country.
We have to use maps, and often people see that
and it's like Russian they have no earthly idea what
it is or where they are in relation to that.
So I would encourage you, wherever you are, to be
able to find your house on a map. We did
a study a few years ago and we ask people
(25:05):
to draw a dot within fifty miles of their house
on a map with counties and state lines. Less than
eight percent of the people could do that. So that's
where we are today. So be sure as we start
talking about these watches in mornings, you can find your
house on a map, know your county, know the adjacent counties,
and that will be a big, big, big help.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
What about if you're traveling, James, A lot of people
still travel with their work, even when they are in
the very early stages of young onset dementia. They're traveling,
what do you recommend if you're traveling and staying off
somewhere in a hotel, what are your thoughts?
Speaker 3 (25:38):
So, again, getting the message that's the most important thing.
And when you're traveling, it's going to be your phone.
And so let's say you're going down the road and
you get a WIA alert and again it is loud.
It's not like an app notification. This is that loud,
blaring tone. You need to pull over right away because
(25:58):
a car is the worst possible place to be. You
cannot be in a car during a tornado. If you're traveling,
you cannot. So what you pull over to see? What
it is. Don't do it while you're driving. I mean,
that's just as dangerous in some cases as a tornado.
You're fiddling with your phone while you're driving, you pull
over on the side, you look at it, and if
you've got that wheel alert, you're in the polygon. And
what you need to do if you're on an interstate,
get off at the next exit, the next exit and
(26:21):
go into a gas station or a restaurant or a
convenience store and they will let you go in there
and just ride it out in that structure until it passes.
So that's the most urgent thing is get out of
a car. You cannot be in a car. Just don't
be in a car during a tornado. Most people that
lose their life they're in cars and mobile homes. And
(26:41):
then if you're in a hotel, just go down to
the lobby and most hotels will guide you on where
to go. Most hotels are pretty good about that. Most
of the big change they've got. Every hotel has an
organized structure and where to put people during a tornado warning.
But just go to the lobby and you'll find that
where to go from.
Speaker 4 (27:00):
There absolutely and make sure. Another good thought is when
you're checking in, if you can remember, ask what county
you're in, because some areas still do refer to it
as counties. I don't know if all weather stations have
gone to the Polygon system.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
Yes they have, that is a nationwide think. But understand,
even then with that, still you'll hear county names. Yeah,
it will be a part of a county, but you'll
still hear the county names. So yeah, that's a great
and that's a great point even and again, where I've
been in this market for forty two years, I know
this place like the back of my hand. But let's
say that I'm in Detroit, where I'm in you know, Walla, Walla,
(27:32):
I don't know what county I mean, that'd be in
the same boat as everybody else. That's a great, great idea.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
And that's live and learn. I've done that before where
I've been in the South and been in a hotel
and a tornado actually hit our hotel and we had
we luckily had called down and asked what county are
we in, and we had been in the hallway, so
thankfully nobody was hurt, but it did cause a lot
of damage. We actually had to move out that hotel.
So yeah, that was trial by and by living through it.
(27:59):
But okay, any other last thoughts, James, This has been
such a yueable and I mean.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
To talk so long, I've hogged the whole show here.
But I understand we talk tornadoes a lot here, but
we have other hazards like hurricanes. For people that live
on the Gulf coast, the system works pretty much the
same way. There's a hurricane watch. The only difference with hurricanes.
Instead of getting ten to fifteen minutes lee time, you're
going to get one to two days lead time, twenty
four to forty eight hours. So if you're in a
(28:26):
coastal market, just understand you've got to know where you're
going and know the hurricane evacuation route. And again, local
authorities have this on their website. Emergency management agencies know
that evacuation site, and you make your plans to get out,
please please obey the evacuation orders. And quite frankly, it's
(28:47):
mostly men that have a problem with that. You know,
men can be awfully stubborn and boneheaded.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
I wouldn't know.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
And look, I'm raising my hand, but you have to
move past your pride and think you're a tough mind, man,
that stuff's not working. So just follow the evacuation orders.
And again with hurricanes, you might be displaced for a
week or longer. And so as you pack up and go,
you've got to think about medicine, all the things we've
talked about in the shelter. You're thinking about days here
(29:16):
and maybe a week that you'll be gone from your home.
And don't forget the flash floods. That's another big thing too.
Flash flood watches in mornings. A lot of people lose
their life in flash floods as well. So just and again,
but the key thing, don't be afraid of any of this.
We never want to instill fear. The odds of you
having to go through a catastrophic weather event in your
life are always small, but you have to understand it.
(29:36):
You have to be prepared and if you do the
things we've talked about today, you'll be fine.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
James, tell everybody where they can find you, where are
you and if they want to listen to you or
get updates or whatever.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
Oh goodness. On the on the tweeter, I'm just Span.
My last name two ends Facebook. It's Facebook dot com
slash James Span with no space and just find on
social media on Instagram at SPANWX and all the products
and services we produce on the digital side we put
up on the social side as well.
Speaker 4 (30:07):
Excellent and well we'll add all these links onto our
Facebook page and our website. James, we can't thank you enough.
This is such great information and we appreciate you coming
on and sharing all your knowledge base with us so
that we can help everyone be prepared and prepared ahead
of time.
Speaker 3 (30:22):
Thank you for the opportunity, appreciate it. You'll have a
great day.
Speaker 4 (30:25):
Thank you too.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Okay, that's James Spam and this has been dementia real
talk right here with Judy Pritchard, Jerry Young and Judy.
I can tell you that was just the most informative information.
And everybody has to.
Speaker 4 (30:37):
Deal with weather absolutely and thanks everyone for listening in
and stay safe and thrive on.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
When caring for your family, your local pharmacy should be
an important part of your team. Blair Pharmacy in Alabaster
is a family owned full service pharmacy giving its clients personalized,
accurate service. They offer services like Nedpack, Flavor RX and
free delivery. Kim and Daniel Blair are members of the
community and are here for you and your family. They
offer everyday items you would find in the big box stores,
(31:05):
but also support local vendors by offering unique handcrafted items.
Blair Pharmacy a full service pharmacy caring for each of
our patients individual needs. Www dot blairdash Pharmacy dot com.
Thanks for listening and be sure to follow us on
Facebook at karen Thrive and visit our website www dot
(31:25):
Karnthrive dot org. Subscribe to this podcast through your favorite
podcasting platform. This podcast is produced by your podcast now
dot com. Let us produce a podcast for you.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
The purpose of this podcast is to educate, into and form.
It is not a substitute for professional care by a
doctor or other qualified medical professionals.
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