The event is occurring or is imminent in your area. Act now: take shelter or leave, depending on what the alert says. See chs. 1 and 10.
Watch
Conditions are favorable for the event to happen. Get ready: charge phones, check your kit, and decide where you would go. See chs. 1 and 10.
Water heater (reserve)
The heater tank holds between 30 and 80 gallons of clean water: it is the biggest hidden reserve in the home. See ch. 3.
WaterBOB
A large plastic bag that goes in the bathtub and is filled before a storm or water outage. It provides dozens of gallons of clean water. See ch. 3.
Watt-hours (Wh)
Total energy: the device's watts times hours of use. Compare the total with the station's capacity and count only about 80% as usable. See chs. 18 and 23.
Watts (W)
How much power a device uses while it runs. Your power station's inverter must handle the total of everything you plug in at once. See ch. 23.
WEA (Wireless Emergency Alerts)
Emergency alerts that reach your cell phone with a special sound and vibration, with no subscription. Turn them on in your phone settings. See ch. 1.
Wind chill
How cold the skin feels when temperature and wind combine. Wind cools you much faster than still air. See ch. 14.
Working end
The free end of the rope, the one you use to make the knot. See ch. 17.
Wound packing
Firmly stuffing a deep wound with gauze or clean cloth and maintaining firm pressure. It is used in areas where a tourniquet will not fit (groin, armpit, neck). See ch. 7.
