Nope. It's not tornadoes. Not even hurricanes, at least not their high winds. It's flooding. And more than half of those flooding deaths occur when people try to drive through high water.

The National Weather Service has declared this week to be Flood Awareness Week. Not that we've had enough rain since September to flood a street. But we will again, someday.

For now, as a public service, we are posting the weather service's  renewed warning to us all: Turn Around. Don't Drown. (That's TADD. Government loves acronyms.)  Here goes:

TADD IS A NOAA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAMPAIGN TO WARN PEOPLE OF
THE HAZARDS OF WALKING OR DRIVING A VEHICLE THROUGH FLOOD WATERS.

WHY IS TURN AROUND DONT DROWN SO IMPORTANT?

EACH YEAR...MORE DEATHS OCCUR DUE TO FLOODING THAN FROM ANY OTHER
SEVERE WEATHER RELATED HAZARD. THE MAIN REASON IS PEOPLE
UNDERESTIMATE THE FORCE AND POWER OF WATER. MORE THAN HALF OF ALL
FLOOD RELATED DEATHS RESULT FROM VEHICLES BEING SWEPT DOWNSTREAM. OF
THESE...MANY ARE PREVENTABLE.

WHAT CAN I DO TO AVOID GETTING CAUGHT IS THIS SITUATION?

FOLLOW THESE SAFETY RULES:
MONITOR THE NOAA WEATHER RADIO, OR YOUR FAVORITE NEWS SOURCE
FOR VITAL WEATHER RELATED INFORMATION.

IF FLOODING OCCURS, GET TO HIGHER GROUND. GET OUT OF AREAS SUBJECT
TO FLOODING. THIS INCLUDES DIPS, LOW SPOTS, LOW WATER BRIDGES,
ETCETERA.

AVOID AREAS ALREADY FLOODED, ESPECIALLY IF THE WATER IS FLOWING
FAST. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS FLOWING STREAMS. TURN AROUND DON`T
DROWN

ROAD BEDS MAY BE WASHED OUT UNDER FLOOD WATERS. NEVER DRIVE THROUGH
FLOODED OADWAYS. TURN AROUND DON`T DROWN

DO NOT CAMP OR PARK YOUR VEHICLE ALONG STREAMS AND CREEKS,
PARTICULARLY DURING THREATENING CONDITIONS.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE FLOOD
DANGERS.