Evacuation planning, based on what I’ve learned so far, involves lots of lists. I love lists. I’m not very good about doing anything with them, but boy do I love to make them.
What kind of lists?
The first list you want to make is a list of potential circumstances under which you might need to evacuate your home. Make a list of all the reasons you can think of. Then ask other people for input; maybe make the list as a family around the dinner table one night. For the first draft, include everything, every idea or crazy notion that anyone comes up with.
Now it’s time to edit your list.
Start by removing the unlikely stuff. For example, say your 9-year old son suggests you may need to evacuate to avoid extraterrestrial invasion. You can probably take this off your list (if sincerely think you need to plan for that particular event, by all means, keep it on your list).
Remove things that are geographically unlikely. People on the Pacific coast are likely to have mudslides on their lists; people living on the Kansas prairie are not.
Some events should be on everyone’s list. Things we should all try to plan for include a house fire, flooding of any type (plumbing or Mother Nature-related), extensive roof damage– the kind that makes a home unlivable, long term power outages—if these are a consideration for your family.
Now that you have your list, you can move on to step two, planning for each of these contingencies, since each one requires it’s own individual plan. For example, in a household fire your first priority must be the lives of the occupants with material possessions coming in a distant second. In an event like a wildfire or other disaster where you have some warning, the list of things to do/take is a lot longer.
Next list – where ya gonna go? ‘Til then, stay safe!