Other Ways to Prepare

Have you ever considered that, one day, you might find it necessary to evacuate your area. We live in a relatively safe area of the country where the need to evacuate from floods, hurricanes, tsunamis, or tornadoes is pretty non-existent. But we also live near several nuclear facilities. In the past, our city has hosted evacuees from coastal areas numerous times, including Hurricane Katrina. Shelters have overflowed and many evacuees simply can’t afford hotel rooms, even if any were available. It begs the question, if my family was forced to evacuate, what would we do?

After Hurricane Katrina, my family discussed this very issue in detail. There are several concerns that have to be addressed if an evacuation order is issued for your area. First and foremost, how do you go about gathering your family? This was a huge question, since my husband worked at one of those nuclear facilities, a 55-minute drive from our home. We discussed in detail (and never fully resolved, unfortunately) a rallying location, a spot away from our immediate area where we could all meet up. However, if it was unnecessary for him to pack up, and he could just leave, he may make it home in time, or be very close behind us. The kids were all in school at the time, a private school one mile from our house. They would be home very quickly if an evacuation was ordered.

The next detail to work out was where we would go. Evacuations are not always for a short period of time.  We have very dear friends with a large home 4 states and 8-hours away from us. We asked them if they would be willing to host us in an evacuation. They told us several other families had made the same request and gladly added us to the group. I typed up our evacuation location, including mailing address and cell phone numbers, and gave a hard copy to each of my siblings. At that time, we would have been taking both of my parents with us and I wanted my siblings to know where their parents would be and have an alternate means of contacting us, should the need arrive. I suspect that cell service might be overloaded and family members may not be able to get through for several days. But placing a call to a location that far away may route through different towers and enable them to check on us.

Next, we looked at the issue of needing to be able to get off major highways that will be backed up with vehicles, and opt for lesser-traveled routes. To facilitate this, I purchased plastic-covered maps of all the surrounding states as well as the ones near our intended location. These maps went in a “Go Bag”. A Go Bag, for those of you who may not be familiar with the term, is a pre-packed bag that will allow you to just grab and go, streamlining the evacuation process. Each family member prepared their own Go Bag, using old backpacks and duffel bags. We included several pairs of socks and an extra pair of shoes (if a pair got wet, we would need a spare), several pairs of underclothes, a couple of shirts, 2 pair of pants, and a sweater. Once all the clothes were packed, we divvied up other items. One person carried games that we could play while sitting for hours in traffic, or if we had to pull off to the side of the road for the night. I carried food, like granola bars, dried fruit, and meat sticks so we wouldn’t go hungry if it took several days to reach our destination, one person carried medicines, including extras for every family member of prescription meds as well as first aid supplies, and one person carried extra dog food, a bowl and leash. The CDC recommends taking dogs with you if you have to evacuate. They can provide comfort and security, but will most likely die if left behind. If you have other pets, you should decide in advance if you would take them. We will leave our duck pens open and they will have to fend for themselves. But our dog is going with us. Essentially, we have compiled a list of necessary items, other than clothing, and each family member has some of these items added to their Go Bag.

We now have all packed our bags and prepared to load up quickly. These, however, HAVE to be rotated periodically. For instance, my children are now adults. Their kids underwear and socks are no longer going to fit them. The food I packed needed rotating. The dog food needed to be replaced with fresher stuff.

I, of course, went a huge step more in preparations, though. My goal is to be on the road within 15 minutes of the issuance of an evacuation order, in an attempt to get ahead of the crowds and traffic. Gas may be impossible to find, and what little there is will go to the person with the most cash. So I made sure we had cash on hand. I also laid out tasks for each family member so, working in concert, we can accomplish all that needs to be done in record time. I typed up each person’s duties, printed out a copy, and stored it in a drawer in our living room. My daughter would pack up my parents, who didn’t have Go Bags, including their medicines, and GET THEM IN THE CAR! My oldest son will take a siphon, which we purchased and put in one of the Go Bags, and siphon gas out of the family cars into the van and truck we would be taking, so we can start our trip with full tanks. He will also fill portable gas containers and load them up. My other son, meanwhile, will be gathering sleeping bags, the family tent, egg crates to cushion the truck bed for sleeping, and crates of stored water. If everyone has their assignments written out and can work quickly and independently, we should be ready to go very quickly. Originally, my plan was for my elderly parents and father-in-law to sleep on top of an egg crate covered with sleeping bags in the bed of his truck if we had to stop for the night. Now, since my parents are no longer alive, my husband, father-in-law, and I will sleep in the bed. The 3 children can sleep either in the tent or in the vehicles. There’s just 6 of us now, and all of us drive, so we can trade off driving and sleeping throughout the day if we prefer to push through and not stop to sleep. We also each have a Berkey water bottle that filters water. If we run out of our bottled water, we can always stop at a creek or river and fill back up, using our individual bottles to filter it.

I think our plan includes using walkie-talkies to communicate from van to truck in case we don’t have cell phone coverage. Having our plan typed up and ready to go means we don’t have to think through what to do if we have to evacuate. We each take the hard copy of our instructions and get to work, minimizing preparation time.

Think about an evacuation scenario. Where would you go? What would you take? What about medicines and pets? It would serve your family to think through this process before it ever becomes necessary. A little advance planning could mean the difference between spending days stuck in traffic or moving briskly to another location.