This area is looking at highly unpredictable evacuations due to fires. I’m thinking about putting together a bug out bag, just in case.
On my list:
-Animals
-Food for animals
-Medications for everyone
-The box with our passports and birth certificates
-Purse/wallet
The kids want to add:
-Their iPads/chargers
My husband wants to add:
-His computer
I’m fine walking away from everything else I can think of. I guess a change of clothes for everyone would be nice, but starting to seem like a lot.
I’ve decided that we would just drive the one car and leave the other. It’s insured and I’d rather not get separated, which we would risk with two cars.
2 questions:
-Anything major that I missed
-What would you grab, if you only had minutes?
None of that stuff is going to be in your bag, though. A bugout bag is static and ready to go at any moment.
In a true emergency where you only have minutes, you don’t really want to waste time looking for entertainment items like an iPad. And if your husband’s computer is a PC, same deal. How much time is it going to take to unplug everything and haul the case to the car?
Get the kids used to the idea that their iPads might get left behind. Your husband is presumably worried about data loss - look into cloud-based storage or get an external hard drive for important files.
I have but out bags for me, Mrs. Charming and Rested and the Cranky dog. We’re ready to rough it in the car for a few days so we have a first aid kit, survival guide, camp stove and fuel pellets, water filter, full change of clothes with layers, Mylar blankets, thin regular blanket, water proof poncho, dried food, solar charger for phones and flashlights, glow sticks, flashlights, waterproof matches, weather radio (solar, crank, and rechargeable), bleach, toiletries, cables to recharge phones, knives, folding shovel, can opener, camp cookware, copies of critical documents like our passports, contact info for our banks and financial accounts, $500 in cash, maps of our area and covering our region in less detail. Dog has food, backpack, and waterproof poncho. I’m sure I’m forgetting some stuff. I wouldn’t want to hike more than 15 miles with it all but to take it in the car is easy. We would also throw our emergency water and non-perishable food in the trunk with our lockbox and laptops. The lockbox has the originals of our passports, more cash, and other important papers like feed ds, car titles, and things insurance info. We could be packed and ready to go in five minutes.
Cash.
Water.
High-energy snack bars.
Chargers for those devices.
Just in case you don’t have such things in your car already:
Flashlight, extra batteries.
Blankets.
Minimal camping gear, if you have it (you may not end up at a motel).
Oh–anybody out there in the fire zone who is counting on a fireproof safe to protect your… well, anything… don’t do that. A friend of mine had his house burn down in the Oakland Hills fire a few years back, and all they got out of their safe was ashes and some funny-looking coins. The safe’s only there to keep your stuff in one place so you can find it after they put the fire out. If they don’t put it out, it doesn’t help much.
OK - points taken. As much as is sensible into the car before there’s a problem. I think I’ll put bags for us in the car we’ll take, including animal supplies. The medicines I can put in a bag by the door. We all fill weekly pill boxes. Those can stay where we use them, and I can put the bottles by the door. Jackets I can pre-load. I can pre-load extra device chargers.
Water and portable food for people are excellent calls.
Fortunately a lot of our photos and so on are in the cloud.
My Sister and family were evac’d in Texas wildfires a few years ago. They got the kids up and her purse. Husband grabbed the cat. The firemen would not let them grab anything else. They were awakened and left the house 5 minutes later, she says. To be fair they had no pre-warning. They went to bed thinking it was all clear. The wind shifted overnight. Lost everything.
Don’t mean to scare you, Sunny. Good luck.
Stay safe.
My answer would depend on your plan. You’re going to get in your car and drive, but what is your destination? Are you heading to a family / friend’s house? Vegas? A shelter? The next town? Do you keep enough fuel in your car to reach that destination without refueling?
Speaking of driving somewhere. My Sister could only go one direction. The roads the other ways were closed. Her choice would’ve to come to Arkansas to my house. But they were told to go south. It was many miles before they found a hotel with vacancies. They had no idea where shelters, or anything outside of their community, were. They had trouble finding gas the next days.
Do fill your car up early.
Everyone’s bag should have a copy of important documents, if they are old enough to be responsible with them. Anyone too young should have a paper (in a Ziploc bag, as all the important papers should be) with name, parents’ names and numbers, and a non-local contact name and number. Everyone should have hard copy numbers and an agreed on non-local contact who has agreed to collect and relay info. Often local networks go down in a disaster, but out of area messages will get through.
An idea I plan to incorporate is to make a sort of checklist for certain points, and keep it in each bag. So, for bug out, have a very short list of the things each person needs to get or do. Have another list for once you reach safety, starting with, 1) are you safe, and are you OK? Then reminders, like messaging your contact.
We were nearly evacuated a couple wildfires back and may be again. We had time then to work things out. Our bugout bags now contain a photos-and-music backup drive, copies of all important papers, and a few irreplaceable gems, period. We needn’t carry survival gear - stuff can be bought down the road. When the word comes to GO, we shall GO. Time and life matter most.
