The third part of making a plan is to consider and plan for potential evacuations:
What is my evacuation route?
Like the sheltering part of your plan, the evacuation part will be dependent upon each type of disaster. Most likely an evacuation outside of your home and neighborhood will be triggered by direction from your community to evacuate. Evacuation warnings are usually given as far out in advance as possible. Your community plan most likely considered which types of disasters would require an evacuation and noted the routes designated for these. Some communities have these routes signed at all times.
Some additional items to consider for your plan:
- Try to maintain at least a half tank of gas in your car at all times.
- If you have no car, be aware of transit or other transportation options and note these in your plan.
- Have a checklist to go through to prepare your home for evacuation if you have time. During a disaster you may not have time or be calm enough to think of everything so this checklist will help make sure you address each important item.
You can also get additional tips at the Ready.gov Evacuation site.
As a side note, throughout this series of posts about getting prepared, I may mention certain products, services, agencies, etc. At no time is it my intention to promote a specific product or service or agency. Each is mentioned only for informational purposes. Of course as a government employee, I do receive a salary from the government for the time I work on my job, but I don’t receive any compensation from any commercial entities I mention or include in these posts.
