Planning for Evacuation During Natural Disasters

(earthquakes, fire, floods, tornados, hurricanes, blizzards, rain)

What personal belongings would you be devastated to lose (family album, jewelry, personal and

bookkeeping documents, etc)?

Do you feel comfortable leaving these things behind in a household safe? Would you have copies of these

documents with you?

What documents will you have available to present to authorities? Are they current?

Do you have at lease one piece of luggage, sometimes called a bug-out bag, dedicated to things like

medications, first aid, cosmetics, clothing, fresh batteries, spare eyeglasses, flashlights, hand-crank radio,

solar chargers, food and water, utensils, can opener, paper towels, toilet paper, tool kit, etc?

Do you have a portable wifi?

Are all medical needs taken care of?

Are all prescriptions up to date?

What needs to be updated and identified?

What about children in your household: what are their daily needs?

How can they be accommodated during a crisis?

What about disabled people in your household: what are their daily needs?

How can they be accommodated during a crisis?

What about pets or other animals in your household? Have you arranged for boarding in advance?

Can you designate a meeting location for everyone? Name three alternatives.

(church, library, supermarket, bank, monument, etc)

Can you think of overnight accommodations for your household for at least a week?

Name at least three alternatives (hotels, friends, relatives, camp grounds, etc)

What is kept permanently in your escape vehicle?

(first aid kit, fire extinguisher, battery charger, tire pump, solar charger, etc)

Have you taken pictures of everything inside and outside of your dwelling for insurance claims and personal references? What about art collections?

Is your insurance coverage up to date? Have you read it and the declarations page for escape clauses?

Are your taxes up to date? Are your bills paid?

What other types of bookkeeping needs to be addressed?

(wills, health records, powers of attorney, etc)

What have you done to protect your assets from seisure (from banks, government or fraud)?

Are your vehicles in good repair and fueled? Do you keep full jerry cans?

Do you have a map of gas stations or charging stations for your electric car?

You will most likely need to have a significant amount of cash to compensate for power outages at

ATMs and other electronic cash or card devices. Where will you store this? Can you break it up and store it in more than one place?

How well acquainted are you with your public servants (sheriff, police, highway patrol, fire department, EMTs, search and rescue people, county supervisor, state senator, etc)? Do you know any of them personally? It would be nice that when you dial 911 someone you know will be out to check up on you.

Are you acquainted with CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) in your community? Have you taken their training? Are you available to assist in an emergency?

Are you familiar with RACES (Radio Amateur Civil and Emergency Services)? Is there a chapter in your area and are you able to assist in an emergency?

Have you contacted your county’s office of emergency management and registered your household with your county’s emergency alert portal?

Sample Charrettes