Chapter 27 · Printable sheets · 23 min read
Glossary: words and acronyms
In an emergency you will read alerts, agency acronyms, and technical terms that nobody explains to you. This glossary gathers them in alphabetical order, with a short definition and the chapter where each one is explained in depth. The terms are given as they appear in alerts, labels, and products.
The essentials · if you only have a minute
- Look up the word by its first letter. Acronyms are alphabetized as words (FEMA goes under F).
- Useful phone numbers (211, 311, 911, 988) are at the beginning, under "Numbers."
- The term shown is the one you will see on the phone alert, the radio, or the product box.
- "See ch. X" takes you to the full explanation. The definition here is only a reminder.
- If an alert uses a word that is not here, do not guess: confirm with an official source (NOAA radio, 311, the city website).
