Stay prepared: fire hazards after floods

AccuWeather

AccuWeather's Leslie Hudson was in central Florida to highlight important safety tips for handling rechargeable batteries in the aftermath of flooding events.

Transcript

00:00Disaster Preparedness Month enters its second week.

00:02Emergency managers around the country are hoping Americans will take the time to stay prepared

00:06as we enter into the busiest part of hurricane season.

00:10AccuWeather's Leslie Hudson is live in central Florida and has more on disaster preps

00:15that can be easily overlooked when a storm is threatening.

00:22Hey, good morning to you, Bernie.

00:24Yeah, in 2004, FEMA created this Ready Campaign in the month of September to try and get families

00:31around the country ready for a disaster in the event one comes to your area.

00:36And it's encouraging the Americans to get your plan in place.

00:40And this year, the campaign focuses on getting back to the basics, so really thinking about

00:45ahead of time what you need to do to get your home and even your garage ready if you get

00:52a natural disaster.

00:53So one of their main concerns is that folks just don't think it can happen to them, right?

00:58They have that it-won't-happen-to-me mentality.

01:00But they really want to change that and push that message forward now that things are relatively

01:04quiet in the tropics, but as we've been listening to all morning, that could quickly change.

01:09So batteries are a big part, lithium batteries are a big part of it.

01:12So behind me here is an electric bike, a scooter, and also a lawn blower.

01:17And I also have my handy power drill, because guess this, you guys.

01:21If you have anything that has a lithium battery in your garage or your house, it poses a significant

01:27risk.

01:28So batteries and everything from these hoverboards to hedge trimmers can really pose a fire

01:34damage in the event your home floods in salt water.

01:37And it just doesn't have to be salt water.

01:39I'll talk more about that in just a second.

01:40Those risks can happen even days or weeks after the floodwaters have receded.

01:46The peak of hurricane season, of course, is here.

01:48And fire officials warn if you have an item that runs on a lithium battery, which let's

01:53face it, all of us have lithium batteries, you need to get it out of your garage.

01:57Last hurricane season here in Florida, there were roughly 85 lithium battery fires statewide,

02:0217 of them involving electric vehicles, but the rest were tied to scooters, e-bikes, golf

02:08carts, and again, even yard tools.

02:11So fire investigators say flooded lithium batteries can be ticking time bombs that can cause more

02:16damage than the storms themselves.

02:19The danger with lithium-ion batteries is that there's a lot of power in these little small

02:23packages.

02:24And when they get damaged, it releases a tremendous amount of energy and a tremendous amount of

02:29heat.

02:32There are far many, far more homeowners that own different types of lithium batteries than

02:40just own an EV.

02:42All of those lithium batteries are just as dangerous as that large EV.

02:49You know, small fires turn into big fires.

02:51What we did see in the wake of the storms and flooding last year was a much higher rate of

02:57lithium battery failure due to submersion after the storm passed, where we see these batteries

03:04in every garage, almost every household, back porches, Florida rooms.

03:11People need to store those batteries high and dry, away from floodwaters.

03:16So fire officials say salt water exposes and accelerates that battery damage and increases

03:25safety hazards compared to fresh water exposure.

03:28But even fresh water flooding, even from not even just a storm surge, just fresh water flooding

03:34can also damage your lithium batteries.

03:36And the problem is people just aren't able to discern whether the battery is still healthy

03:40or not looks healthy to them.

03:42They turn the battery on and it can create a huge fire risk.

03:46And as fire investigators were telling us, in this more of an electrified society that

03:50we have, they are really trying to get this word out, prompting fire marshals as well as

03:55insurance companies and car makers to kind of get that word out that if you have a lithium

04:00battery, you need to really be careful.

04:02And if you do have batteries, which again, we've all established we have lithium batteries,

04:06try and make sure you keep it 50 feet away from any structure if you're expecting to be

04:11impacted by a disaster and make sure they have a 30 percent or less charge.

04:15As long as they have a charge in that battery, they pose a significant fire risk.

04:20Reporting from Orange County, I'm Leslie Hudson.

04:22Back to you.

04:23And Leslie, as a point of clarification, I know you said this, but I want to make sure.

04:27But it's salt water that causes the problems with the lithium batteries, not fresh water.

04:34Is that correct?

04:37Well, yes, but that's two pronged, though.

04:39So salt water is the accelerant that can actually create a more, a larger hazard for fire risk

04:45in these lithium batteries.

04:46But they also warn that it's also fresh water.

04:49If you have fresh water intrusion, even though the risk is less because that salt in the water

04:54is what's the conductive agent that can accelerate the risk for fires, fresh water flooding can

04:59also damage lithium batteries.

05:02So the risk is lower in a fresh water intrusion compared to a salt water intrusion, which salt

05:07water intrusion would be storm surge, any type of, you know, salt water that comes from the

05:12Atlantic or the Gulf that gets into those batteries.

05:14But there is a risk for fresh water.

05:16Although less, they want folks to know if you're in any risk of getting these items

05:22exposed to fresh or salt, but again, salt the larger concern to get them up or get them

05:27out of the way before those storms arrive.

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