Tornado Survival Skills

Tornado Survival Skills

Familiarize yourself with the terms that are used to identify a tornado hazard.

A tornado watch means a tornado is possible in your area. You should monitor NOAA Weather Radio (www.weather.gov/nwr), local radio and television news outlets for the latest developments.

A tornado warning comes when a tornado is actually occurring. Take shelter immediately.
Determine in advance where you will take shelter in case of a tornado warning.
Storm cellars or basements provide the best protection.

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Prepare for Tornado Season

Tornado season is officially here! It hasn't started out with a bang like last year, but it's still very important to plan ahead to protect your homes and families.

Here are some facts about storms...

They may occur singly, in clusters, or in lines.

Some of the most severe occur when a single thunderstorm affects one location for an extended time.

Thunderstorms typically produce heavy rain for a brief period, anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

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My Trip to Maui

You might notice a theme in our blog-Hawaii vacations. Our Champion Construction Systems, Inc office is full of travelers and while we like to do water damage, we love to travel. By something of a coincidence, many of us have recently traveled to or will soon travel to Hawaii.  My trip was last month and I have to agree with Nick Sharp, it was amazing. (Larry Banach went in the first part of February and we are still waiting on his post) I wanted to share some highlights.

-Humpback Whales. We were in Maui during the peak of the Humpback Whale season. In fact we even went to the Whale Festival! This is what I learned--Humpback whales migrate to Maui's warm waters from November to March to have their babies in the warm, shallow and safe waters. They don't eat while they are here and lose 1/2 of their body weight. Once the calves are ready, they migrate back to Alaskan waters where they normally live. These whales are an endangered species so it was really special to have the opportunity to see them. Although you wouldn't know they are endangered because they are everywhere. We took this picture from our backyard

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Do you I.C.E.?

When there's an emergency often EMS responders don't know who to contact. A movement that started in England has caught on in the US. It turns your cellphone into a way for EMS or hospital personnel to contact your next of kin, doctor, etc. in a case of emergency if you were unconscious or unable to respond. Here's the idea: You list all of your emergency contacts under "ICE" in your cell phone (acronym for In Case of Emergency). You can list ICE1, ICE2, ICE3, etc to list multiple contacts. Or you could do ICE-wife, ICE-doctor, etc. It's good to put a small sticker on your phone with "I.C.E." on it. 75% of people don't carry any emergency contacts. And a driver's license just doesn't provide enough information. ICE should NOT replace a card that you carry in your wallet or purse with emergency contact numbers, medical conditions, current medications, dangerous allergies, etc. I'm going to ask Summer, our graphics expert, if she will make up a card for all of our Champion personnel that they can fill out and we can laminate and keep with us. Or you can go to medids.com and fill out a form on your computer that you can carry with you and put one on your refrigerator at home. Believe it or not, that's where firemen and other EMS personnel look for contact information! But it will be up to you to "ICE"!

Larry Banach - Construction Department Manager

Before you leave for vacation

When you leave your home for an extended period of time no matter what time of year it is, turn off the main supply line of water to your home. If you dont, you may come back and everything will be just as you left it. But there is a chance that you can have a water line in your house break and your "vacation" as you knew it will be ruined because your home will have water damage and in these cases... a very big water damage. Its good for us but bad for you! Please do keep champion in mind if you do have a water damage. Our expertise knowledge of structural drying and the genuine care for your home will allow us to do the best job possible of restoring your home to normal.

Thomas Stuart - Mitigation Crew

Fire Extinguisher Safety

Being prepared and able to fight small fires can prevent massive fire damage and save you the need for fire and smoke restoration services.

Before considering fighting any fire there are a few things that you should know.

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Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in Pine Mountain, Georgia

Greenville High School football coach Jeremy Williams and his family are just a couple of days away from hearing : “Move that bus!” The family lives in Pine Mountain, Georgia. They were surprised on Sunday with news that Extreme Makeover Home Edition crews will build them a new home while they vacation at the Adaptive Sports Center in Crested Butte, Colorado.

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Georgia Flood Awareness Week March 15-19, 2010

Floods are the most common and widespread of all natural disasters with the exception of fire. Many people do not realize that flooding kills more people than any other weather hazard. The majority of deaths occur when people are trapped in automobiles that stall while attempting to drive through flooded areas. Most communities in Georgia experience some kind of flooding after spring rains or thunderstorms. Dam failures are potentially the worst flood events because when a dam fails, a massive quantity of water is suddenly released downstream, destroying anything in its path. Another concern is flash flooding. Flash floods usually result from intense storms dropping large amounts of rain within a brief period. They occur with little or no warning and can reach full peak in only a few minutes. Areas most prone to floods are ones with streams and rivers, urban areas and low-lying areas.

As always, the Champion team is committed to doing everything in our power to continue to provide outstanding service to our clients during this year's storm season. If you have any questions please feel free to call our office at 770-253-6070. We also have collected an abundance of valuable resources available on our Information Center at www.championcsi.com.

Water Damage Restoration - What's In a Name - Part II

Part II - Yesterday in 'What's In a Name' we explored the most common customer last names that Champion has had the privilege to work for over the last decade, and SMITH took the prize. On the flip side, our customers communicate with a number of Champion employees throughout their project, and keeping all of us straight can no doubt be a challenge especially considering we have a Gary, a Jerry, a Larry, a Mary, and a Jeremy. Not to mention an M. Brown and M. Smith.

Greg Ahlstrom - Accounting Manager

Water Damage Restoration - What's In a Name - Part I

Part I - One of the 'little things' that makes our industry and our jobs intriguing is that our customers are individual homeowners, so we have come across thousands of different first names, last names, and combinations of names. Of course, we all know some of the most common last names. Over the length of more than a decade having assisted thousands of people, these are Champion's most common customer names: Anderson 23 times, Moore 31 times, Brown 33 times, Jones 38 times, Williams 48 times (did you know that one was common?), Johnson 50 times, and the winner is Smith 70 times.

Greg Ahlstrom