EVACUATION ROUTES
It‘s vitally important that you prepare and become familiar with your evacuation routes in advance, before a disaster occurs. You should prepare a primary evacuation route and a secondary route in case your primary route is either blocked or takes you in the
wrong direction. For some areas, you may need a third or even fourth route depending on the complexity of your location.
There are several things to consider when preparing your evacuation route:
Type of disaster:
Different types of disasters
will require different evacuation routes. For example: A flood evacuation route (after flooding has occurred) should not
require you to cross low lying areas, rivers, etc. Whereas, an evacuation that has been ordered because of an approaching hurricane;
will not necessarily be limited by geographic concerns. Also, many types of disasters, such as biological or chemical hazards
are direction specific and will require that you move directly away from the threat without crossing contaminated areas. Take
these things into consideration while preparing evacuation routes. You should have several “disaster specific” routes prepared.
Scope
of disaster:
Some disasters are more localized than others. Tsunamis and floods may require that you simply move to higher
ground. Whereas, a threat such as a hurricane or volcanic ash fall may require that you put more distance between yourself and
the threat. You should consider having some long-range evacuation plans as well as those that are more localized.
Foreseeable
delays:
One must consider that in the event of an evacuation order, especially in metropolitan areas, the major highways and
arteries will be very congested. When determining your evacuation routes, take into consideration routes that may be less traveled. The very best way to assure that you will be able evacuate in time is to be prepared to evacuate on a moment’s notice and do not delay. You may run into traffic, but it will be a fraction of what will come when the unprepared people finally get moving.
Collecting
your family:
In most cases, the state and federal governments advise that you should not try to collect your children from school
during a disaster. They claim that schools are better equipped to provide for your children during an emergency. However, most
people will agree that leaving your children behind is an unrealistic idea. Therefore, you should make a plan to retrieve your
children without interfering with the school’s emergency efforts. In fact, your plans should work in conjunction with the school’s
emergency plan. To do this requires that you take specific actions:
1. The best way to avoid many
potential problems is to stay informed. Do not send your children to school if you are uneasy about the possibility of an approaching
disaster. It is true that public schools will close in the event of a threat to the area, but the decision to close the schools
is made by someone that may not be as well informed as you.
2. Generally, public schools are required
to have an emergency plan in place. However, many of them use a broad template to satisfy this requirement. These templates
are not specific to each school. Most schools simply do not have the resources to implement an adequate plan. You should
contact your children’s school(s) to get information about their emergency plan. Hopefully, it will be comprehensive, but you
may be shocked to find out that it’s lacking. If you want to be confident that your children are going to be safe during an
emergency, you should ask some pertinent questions of the school:
a. Does the school have an emergency plan?
b. Where will my children be evacuated to in the event of a disaster? (You need to know this in case you need to meet them there.)
c. Does the school have the transportation resources to evacuate in a timely manner?
d. Does the school have
a shelter?
e. Does the school have the resources to shelter-in-place?
f. Does
the school stock enough food and water to provide for the students for at least three days?
g. Are these supplies
stored in the shelter-in-place location?
h. Does the school have a general security plan and “lock down” plan?
i. Does the school have a backup generator?
j. Does the school have an alternative source of heat?
*Knowing
this information will help you make informed decisions about your children in the event of a disaster.
3. Make sure that everyone in the group knows what to do in the event of an emergency.
a. Establish a meeting
place in the event that you cannot communicate with each other. This meeting place may be near one of your workplaces or somewhere
along the primary evacuation route. Take care in selecting the meeting place and make sure that it makes sense. You might
just decide to meet at home.
b. It may be easier to communicate with people that are out of the area than it
is to call locally. Be sure to have an out of state contact and that everyone (including the children) knows the number(s). If you cannot contact each other directly, use the out of state contact to relay messages.
c. Make sure
that everyone carries their emergency information cards. You can produce them on this site.
Destinations:
Every evacuation route must have a final destination and plans to provide for your needs once you arrive there. If possible, it’s wise to make prior arrangements to stay with friends or family in the event of a disaster. Since you will
be making evacuation plans for several different contingencies, you may need to plan for more than one destination.
Emergency shelters:
In many situations, emergency shelters will be available. However, these shelters quickly become over-crowded
and supplies are often limited or delayed. With proper planning you may not need to depend on an emergency shelter.
If
you have pets, you should be aware that emergency shelters often do not accept animals (service animals are usually accepted). If you use a shelter, you will need to make arrangements for the care of your pets elsewhere.
Evacuation supplies:
Be sure that you have compiled your evacuation supplies, vehicle first aid kit(s), emergency automotive
supplies and bug out bags. Take these supplies with you if you evacuate. Evacuation is an adventure, at best. Even
with previous planning, you will be faced with unforeseen circumstances and problems. Even if you go to a public shelter, history
dictates that you cannot depend on the availability of supplies such as food and water. Your evacuation supplies could laterally
make the difference between life and death.
Fuel:
During an evacuation, it stands to reason that gas stations will be overrun
with traffic and many will run out of fuel. Therefore, you should make it a habit to always keep your vehicle tank at least
half full. It’s also a good idea to keep some extra fuel safely stored at home so that you can top off your tank if necessary.
Mapping
Your Routes:
Taking all of the above-mentioned factors into consideration, you can now map out your evacuation routes. You can either go to google maps, MapQuest or some other site to make and print your maps. Be sure to include written driving
directions, destinations and contact information for the friends or family that you will be staying with. You should also carry
a commercially printed road map with you in case you need to make alterations to your route in progress. Remember, you may not
be able to depend on your electronic devices so be sure to print your materials well in advance.
