by Lisa Bedford
Use these suggestions to create your own Last Minute Packing list using the printable checklist found in the Appendix of this book. Post it somewhere near your emergency supplies and include a copy in the front of your Grab-n-Go Binder.
In the chaos of an evacuation, it will be extremely important that each person knows exactly what their responsibility is. Include on the list the name of the person responsible for each last minute packing item and the location(s) for each item. You may not be the one in charge of this evacuation and may not even be at home when it occurs, so make your Last Minute Packing List as easy to follow as possible.
As with everything having to do with emergency preparedness, you are never “done” putting together your emergency kit and plans. It's not enough to merely obtain these items; prepping is not about the stuff you have, it's a way of life. You have to constantly maintain your kit by rotating out food that is about to expire, ensure that clothing always fits and is appropriate for the weather and season (especially crucial for kits belonging to fast-growing children!), and regularly test the stored batteries for efficacy. There is nothing more depressing than opening up your emergency kit when it’s needed, looking forward to something that resembles a decent meal, only to discover that your granola bars expired five years ago and now taste like kindergarten paste, and your flashlight batteries corroded, leaving it useless.
The All-Important Staging Area
One of the most important concepts my husband ever taught me was the importance of having a staging area established for each family vacation.
Our kids quickly learned where the staging area was, typically near the back door, and it became second nature to tell them, “Go put your stuff in the staging area.” When it came time to leave, everything we needed to bring was on that one specific area.
I highly recommend that you begin this practice, too, whether it’s for an evacuation, vacation, or just getting ready to head out to baseball practice. Determine where a good area would be for suitcases, pillows, an ice chest, and all your other supplies, and begin utilizing that space as your family’s official “Staging Area.” The kids will catch on in no time.
Once everything is in its place, you can then pull out your evacuation checklists and mark off each item. It will be easy to identify anything, or anyone, who might be missing.
TIP: As part of your packing and planning, give some thought to establishing a communications hub. This will be a person living some distance from you with whom you will check in at regular intervals. Provide them with a copy of your route, including pre-planned detours, if they become necessary, and phone numbers for each of your stopping points and final destination.
They should also have your email addresses and the cell phone numbers for each person in your group.
This person, in turn, can pass along information and messages to you from other family members or friends as well as up to date news about the weather, disaster, and other relevant events.
Think outside the box when it comes to evacuation destinations
Your kits are ready, the pets and kids are bundled up and you’ve remembered to grab their favorite play toys and diversions, but now the big question remains, where do you go?
Remember that if your end destination is more than a day’s travel away, you’ll need places to spend the night along your planned route.
If you’re like the majority of Americans, you don’t own a second home and don’t have friends who live on rural ranches or farms. Those are all considered to be “safer” spots for long-term evacuations, but what other options are there? Obviously, staying with grandparents, siblings, or other relatives and close friends are locations that will be at the top of your list. But if those destinations aren’t viable for some reason, here are a few more to consider:
Campgrounds
Camping is one of the very best activities you and your family can experience to help prepare you for survival scenarios. You’re providing your own shelter, heat (if needed), using off-grid methods for cooking and sanitation, and banding together to not only survive the wilderness but have a fun time as well. If you own basic camping gear and have at least some skills for selecting a good campsite, pitching a tent, safely starting and building a fire, cooking food, and procuring water, then evacuating to a campground is a good choice.
If campgrounds are full, then get out your map and head for a state or national park that allows primitive, or dispersed, camping. This is camping anywhere other than a designated campground and you won’t have access to any facilities. Find out which parks allow that and what their rules are.
Urban camping
This option is a possibility for both tent camping and RV/trailer camping. Some businesses, such as Wal-Mart, allow overnight RV camping in their parking lots. If you’re very subtle about it, you can park for a night or two in an apartment complex parking lot or at 24-hour grocery stores if you have no other options. You’ll need to have all your supplies very well organized, with the items you’ll need most easily accessible. During the day, you can go to a local park for some fresh air, a picnic, and to let the kids play. For a family, this isn’t an easy option unless you have an RV.
Camping on friends’ property
You may not have friends with spacious homes or homesteads, but just about everybody has a friend who would allow them to “urban camp” in their backyard or driveway. They may not have sleeping space for you, but would gladly allow you to use their bathroom and laundry facilities, and share meals.
Mobile home park
If you own an RV, you may be able to park it, temporarily, at a mobile home park. Call ahead to check their regulations since many are set by the city or state.
Hotels
These can be pricey and if ATM machines in the area are down, you’ll have to be prepared with enough cash to cover the expense. However, there’s virtually no preparation involved, other than calling ahead to get a reservation. If you have pets, you can find pet-friendly hotels at BringFido.com. Hotels are far less accommodating when it comes to cats, but cat-friendly hotels do exist.
Timeshares
If you’re like millions of timeshare owners, you probably have extra weeks banked. These resorts are an excellent destination because timeshare units often include laundry facilities and full kitchens. Many also have scheduled activities, which will help a great deal for keeping the kids occupied.
Call your timeshare company directly, explain your situation, and ask for their help. Be flexible with your destinations, don’t insist on a 5-star deluxe resort — but if one is available, by all means, grab it!
Airbnb
Started in 2008, Airbnb is a fairly new travel concept. Homeowners with extra space for visitors open their homes to travelers on a short term basis. You may end up sleeping on the floor on futons or get a spacious room, or more, all to yourself. Check out the website, read the terms, and look for locations near your evacuation routes. And, as with any other type of accommodation, take care and stay situationally aware.
Youth hostels
Back in the day, I stayed in hostels all over Europe and noticed plenty of families with kids of all ages as well as adults of all ages who were also taking advantage of this very low-cost option. Most hostels are definitely no-frills but will cost about $15-40 or so per night, which is a huge savings over any hotel or motel. There aren’t nearly as many hostels in the U.S. as there are in Europe, but you might get lucky and find ones along your evacuation route. Visit the Hostelling International (hiusa.org) and Hostels.com websites to learn more.
Stay with friends of friends
When my husband moved to Texas, ahead of our family, he was welcomed into the home of a homeschooling family we had never met. The arrangement came about from a simple request on the homeschooling group’s forum. It was a blessing for us, and we would do the same for another family in need. If you have connections through a church, homeschool organization, social clubs, and the like, you may be able to find just th
e right, temporary destination for your family’s evacuation. Don’t be afraid to ask and let your needs be known.
Non-government shelters
If the thought of checking in to a FEMA shelter gives you the willies, then keep your eyes and ears open to temporary shelter facilities at churches, schools, and other public buildings. Organizations such as The Salvation Army often coordinate with local businesses and government to get these set up quickly. In fact, in most cases, these shelters will be up and running long before FEMA officials even complete their lengthy paperwork. That’s the nature of bureaucracy.
If you do find yourself heading for a public shelter, here are a few things you should know:
Be prepared for a nearly complete loss of privacy.
Bring your own food and water. There may be some available, but having your own will be much better than standing in line.
Pets will not be allowed but service animals are.
Adults and older children/teens should take turns keeping an eye on family belongings. Don’t assume that anything is theft-proof.
Keep cash and other valuables stored out of sight in your locked car. If you have to bring anything in that you don’t want to be stolen, a small security safe, like a pistol safe, is handy for storing prescription drugs, cash, ID papers, and other small, important items.
Be sure to bring chargers for your electronics, an extension cord, and a multi-plug outlet.
Bring bedding, pillows, and towels from home.
Pack pajamas or something modest for sleeping. You’ll likely be in a large room filled with cots and many strangers.
Learn from the homeless
I’m not eager to recommend this, but in some cases, you may be homeless for a while, from just overnight to several days or more. No one said living out of a car, truck, or other vehicle would be easy, but hundreds of thousands of people do it every day. If you are well and truly stuck, these tips passed on to me from a few folks who lived the homeless lifestyle may help:
Get organized and stay organized! Have a place for everything and make sure everyone in the group knows where to find things and to put everything back in the same place. There’s no shorter route to insanity than having to search for every single thing you need, especially if the need is urgent.
Keep a family toiletry bag handy with a bar of soap, washcloth, toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, and any other items needed for freshening up. You can find showers at truck stops and KOA campgrounds, usually for a small fee. If you belong to the YMCA, you can use their facilities anywhere in the U.S.
Pack lightweight, thin towels. They’ll dry faster.
Have a small, plastic basin handy for washing dishes, hand-washing small batches of laundry, and bathing. A dishpan or 5 gallon bucket will work just fine for these purposes.
If you have freeze-dried meals, this is where that investment may really pay off. They’re very lightweight and can be prepared in minutes. An immersion heater can heat up the water quickly and those are available with the standard electrical plug and one that plugs into your car’s power socket.
Always use window shades in your vehicle for privacy.
If possible, attach a tarp to your vehicle or nearby trees for another area of shelter.
Do not use candles inside your vehicle. Rely on flashlights, headlamps, and other sources of light.
Libraries have computers and internet access, which you’ll need to contact your insurance agent, employer, friends, and family.
Staying sane under (very) trying circumstances!
Most survival guides never touch on one of the most important aspects of survival: staying sane. A family of five, trapped in a minivan that is both their transportation and their lodging is soon going to be walking a shaky line between sanity and glassy-eyed crazy.
Packing the emergency kits, gathering together important documents, deciding where to go, and mapping out safe routes are the easy part of an evacuation. Actually hitting the road, unsure what lies ahead of you or for how long you’ll be gone, breeds fear, uncertainty, and conflict. Lots and lots of conflict.
Much of this can be avoided.
Sanity supplies
First, on my master Evacuation Supplies Checklist, you’ll notice that I’ve included a special category: Sanity. Take that category just as seriously as Sanitation and Sustenance. Your emergency supplies and kits should be equipped with items that will help keep each family member occupied and entertained.
Whenever my family goes on a long road trip, and we’ve covered more than 16,000 miles, I end up reading aloud. Over those long miles, my kids listened to me read the entire Percy Jackson and The Kane Chronicles series, both by Rick Riordan. When I was reading Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare, I couldn’t help but notice that my husband was every bit as attentive as the two kids!
Be sure to pack one or two longer chapter books, even if your kids are quite young. When my kids were 4 and 5 years old and just learning to read, they still enjoyed The Magic Treehouse book series by Mary Pope Osborne whenever I read them aloud. Hundreds of great books can be stored on a Kindle or other e-reader and will be a great resource for both entertainment and education.
Don’t overlook the CD player! Bring along a good selection of both music CDs and books on CD. If you have a smart phone or tablet, you can also download podcasts to listen to. There are "Ted Talks" on every subject under the sun, and, of course, Survival Mom podcasts!
A portable DVD player is a godsend when it comes to filling long hours on the road or in a hotel. If two kids will be sharing one DVD player, you might want to get a headphone splitter so they can both listen and you don't have to.
Establish a routine
One of the most important pieces you can put into place during this time of chaos and unfamiliar surroundings is a routine. I can’t stress enough the importance of having a planned schedule for time spent in the car as well as a schedule of activities once you arrive at your destination.
That routine should include fun activities, chores that help the new “household” run smoothly, and some education. If you’ve lived through the long summer months with a bevy of bored kids, you know how unbearable those long, unstructured hours can become for everyone in the house.
Your Evacuation Daily Schedule could include:
Daily chores for each family member
Established meal times — Schedule meal prep and clean-up.
Quiet time — Either naps or quiet reading.
Laundry day
Organization day — After 2 or 3 days, things may gradually fall apart with clothes and belongings strewn everywhere. Take an hour or two to tidy up — almost as good as spring cleaning.
Scheduled favorite TV shows, possibly on DVD
Family meetings – Discuss decisions, issues, conflicts, and let everyone express their thoughts and feelings.
Outings:
Go to a movie
Visit a museum or other city attractions
Go to the mall
Go to a sports event
Public swimming pool
Dog park, if you have dogs
Visit nearby friends and relatives
Neighborhood park
Library — During the summer there will be special events for kids.
Nearby national and state parks
Read-aloud time
Separate parent/child outings — My kids love these and look forward to them
School work – The kids will likely whine, but this is a great way to fill time as well as ensure they will maintain their skill levels once school resumes.
Be sure to write out each day’s schedule and post it, both as a reminder to you and to give everyone in the family something to look forward to the next day. If your displacement goes on for more than a week or two, add a “Surprise” to the calendar to add some excitement, even if it’s just a visit to Sonic for slushies or Dunkin’ Donuts for hot chocolate.
Final considerations
Keep
in mind that in most cases, you only need to evacuate to a safer location — away from the flames and smoke of a wildfire or flooding, etc. Sometimes we think we must evacuate many miles away but that isn’t always the case. Your "safer place" might just be to your aunt’s house across town.
In some cases, though, you will have a longer journey to safety. If you’re evacuating ahead of a hurricane or escaping the damage of a flood or earthquake, make sure your planned destination(s) are far enough away to provide real safety. Rain and wind from a hurricane can travel hundreds of miles inland, for example. (More details for that coming up in the next chapter.)
One final consideration when planning possible destinations is the length of time you can feasibly stay in each place. Some scenarios become so dire that coming back home, except to gather whatever belongings remain, is impossible. In that case, could you stay with your in-laws indefinitely? Do you have the right equipment to continue camping long-term?
Wherever you end up, do your best to stay organized, keep the kids occupied, and establish a daily routine. These three actions will go a long way toward preserving your sanity.
Hitting the road
Multiple, planned routes