Evacuating when told to by Government Officials

[pinkfox]

well in our current location in ct, our biggest risk is snow in the winter...
or as we found out, flooding of the main roads (our house is up an almos 45 degree 1/4 mile long driveway so the water would have to be pretty deep for flooding us, but the roads around us floor quite easily due to lots of wetland in the area.

flood/snow, we stay in place.
we have pellet stoves whihc are electric run, but we have a small jenny that will power 1 stove and the fridge (and we oversized them so 1 will heat 2000sqft if we open the doors)
and we have back up bateries (multiple car bateries on both the upstairs and downstairs stoves) they would carry the stoves on low for about 72 hours per battery, and theres 4 batteries on each system. so in case of power out, we at least have heat which is potentially the biggest concern for a new england winter.

we always stock up in the fall even if out cupboards are bear the rest of the year, mum will not drive if theres even the mention of the word snow, and i wont drive if theres possibility of ice (bad experience) so we stock up on food and bottled water.
we also store a few propane tanks in the garage and sheds, we have propane heaters and lots of camping equiptment as well as a gas and a coal grill, so prepping food including boiling water is taken care of...
flooding is also another ride it out situation, but worse comes to worse dad has a small power dingy that he got for his boat and never took to the dock sitting in the garage fully inflated, and both me and my father are experienced seamen (and were all very strong swimmers).

around here if theres an "emergency" people panic. (6" of snow forcasted and people are raiding the grocery store for milk, bread eggs and toilet paper....(aparently snow storms drive people to french toast...

i never want to be on the roads in any kind of panic ther einsane around here...

when i get my own place i plan on hunkerng down whenever its safe to do so, but in the case of evacuation i want to make sure i have local maps of back roads in my car makred with alternative routes, even if there dirt roads.

i think you should prepare for all senarios, evac or hunker down...
and then use your brain as to which is the better option given the individual situation.

 

[AL]

In '04 and '05 we had lots of practice for hurricanes. I live in a trailer so I go to my parent's house. We don't evacuate - nowhere near flood zones, no trees over their brick house, etc.

If I lived on the beach and the authorities issued a mandatory evacuation, I would go. , it just ticks me off to sit and listen to 911 calls from the beach in the middle of a Cat 2-3 storm "water is in the house!" Well no s(*^ sherlock. So you expect some poor uniform to get out in it, risk their life because you wanted to stay home and defend your home against - what? Storm surge? Wind? good luck with that.
If you don't do what the authorities require, don't expect them to come drag your drowning butt to safety.

( sorry.... huge pet peeve from the EMS days)

 

[big brown horse]

Former Houstonian here and went through all the hurricanes up until Ike. (That was my last, thankfully.) Anyway one thing that helped many of my friends out of the city and into 'the hills' was to have a back country road map. I forget what it is called, but it is a map of all the tiny country roads that nobody else thinks about using during a mass evacuation.

During Rita, the mayor told us all to evacuate in phases according to where you live, did anyone listen? NOPE. They all rushed out at once clogging everything, (except the small country roads). HUGE MESS!!!!

I stayed home for Rita, Katrina (didn't hit us, but we thought it might), and Ike. Ike was the worst.

 

[hiker]

No hurricanes or fires here, mostly tornados. I live near the Ohio River, so flooding does happen, but our house is about 4 miles from the river and on high ground, so I don't worry about that too much. We have had some small earthquakes, but not usually too damaging.

The big debate among our prepper group is when to leave in the event of civil unrest. Right now we are leaning toward riding things out in our homes for 30 days or so and then making to our property. We are very well stocked, pretty well armed, and working on beefing up our medical training skills.

Any thoughts on when to leave in this event?

 

[savingdogs]

No hurricanes or fires here, mostly tornados. I live near the Ohio River, so flooding does happen, but our house is about 4 miles from the river and on high ground, so I don't worry about that too much. We have had some small earthquakes, but not usually too damaging.

The big debate among our prepper group is when to leave in the event of civil unrest. Right now we are leaning toward riding things out in our homes for 30 days or so and then making to our property. We are very well stocked, pretty well armed, and working on beefing up our medical training skills.

Any thoughts on when to leave in this event?

We lived in Los Angeles during the riots after the Rodney King verdict. Who could have known that was going to happen? I lived there and certainly never expected anything like that. In the event of civil unrest, you want to be far, far away from the big cities IMHO.
That event is one of the reasons Hubby and I wanted to move away into the country down a dirt road no one can even find.

 

[baymule]

Mandatory evacuations just started in my county. There is over 1200 acres burning in the north part of the county and several subdivisions are threatened. I am on the southern end, but this is one I would run from. Texas is in the worst drought since 1956. The fire is made worse by high winds. The fire departments in this area are volunteers. God bless them for what they do.

 

[baymule]

Fire:www.polkcountytoday.com Top headlines

Fire Update...
According to the Texas Forest Service, the wildfire that began Friday in the area of the Polk and Trinity County line has burned 3,500 acres on the county line. Six hunting cabins in Polk County have burned down. The fire has been officially named the Bearing Fire. Homes in the most danger are at the northern end of FM-2262 in Trinity County and is forcing evacuations. Crews have now switched into structure protection mode rather than attacking the fire. Homes in the Trevat and Sulphur communities are reportedly in the most immediate danger. High winds and arid conditions have caused fire fighters to lose their containment lines on the fire that was about 80 percent contained late Friday, to the point that the fire is now only about 20 percent contained. Four helicopters, a tanker plane, and a team of bulldozers are on site. Authorities are encouraging residents to avoid the area if possible. So far, no residents or fire fighters have been injured.

 

[Pirtykitty]

I had no idea that we were in the worst drought since 1956. I know we have had other droughts but they didn't last long.. Thank you for the information...

 

[baymule]

update on fire

Fire Update: The forest fire (named the "Bearing Fire") is reportedly spreading north towards Apple Springs Texas. So far, over 15,000 acres of forest have burned with no reported injuries. Twelve fire departments from Trinity and Polk Counties are being assisted by the Texas Forest Service, 3 helicopters, and a team of bulldozers. More bulldozers are on the way from other states. The fire was named the Bearing Fire because it reportedly started from a truck pulling a trailer on FM-287. The trailer caught fire when a wheel bearing over heated.

I have friends and family in the area and it has been a close one. Not out of danger yet, but there is thousands of national forest lands that are toast. Several communities and towns have been saved from the flames due to the volunteer fire departments. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

 

[Denim Deb]

If there were a major hurricane where I live, I don't think I'd really be able to leave. We don't have any large trees near the house-they were removed years ago. And, basically, unless we head north, we couldn't go any place. The only way out of South Jersey is either north, or over a bridge. I'm sure the bridges would all be backed up, and that's no fun. I was in that sort of a mess 1x! I was going to pick up my daughter from camp, had left early because I wanted to stop in Lancaster County PA, and got stuck in traffic. I just barely made it to the camp in time. A 3 hour drive took me about 5 hours. And, the bridge was even WORSE when we came home! I got stuck just past the toll booths. When we came home, it was jammed the entire length of the bridge coming from Jersey.