This is a situation taken mainly from the effects of Tropical storm Allison which flooded Houston about five years ago. I chose this because I am familiar with the situation since I lived just outside Houston at the time and because flooding is a situation which can occur in almost any major city as long as the rain fall exceeds the capabilities of the sewer/storm drain system.

Background: When Allison struck Houston it was relatively low level storm, mild winds, no evacuations were ordered. The expected effects were minor wind damage and possible flash floods. No worse then a major thunderstorm. However, what Allison did was move in over Houston and stop there causing heavy rain that lasted several days. Flooding occured suddenly in some places but did not dissapate for several days.

Now my situation for you to consider is this: you work in a large office building downtown. You go to work in the morning when it is rainy but the roads are clear. Sometime during the day, you either hear from a co-worker or the radio that there is flash flooding around the city. Security comes on over the PA system and announces that the parking garage is flooding and you may want to move your car. When you arrive at the parking garage, you find that your car is either already underwater or unaccessable. Aside from what you have on you or at your desk you have no other supplies and cannot easily leave the building. Safest route is to spend the night in the building.

What are your actions in the above situation? Everyone here has probably read books on and practiced wilderness survival skills, what are the analogous wrban survival skills you would use? Consider both the situation of both a building safe to stay in and one which is unsafe and must be abandoned.