I was feeling pretty confident about our 72 hour kit with extra water stored right by the garage door and our car's 72 hour kit in the trunk. But as I scrolled through this post tonight, the picture of the empty gas gauge triggered an unpleasant memory. Seventeen years ago we lived in Western Washington and experienced a severe wind storm that left many without power for several days. We were luckier - only one day. The deal breaker was I had neglected to fill the gas tank the night before and was unable to go anywhere until the nearest gas station reopened. Good reminder from The Ready Store that all of us need to review our family emergency plan.
What’s Your Grab-N-Go Plan?
While each potential disaster that you face will present it’s own unique challenges that you should plan for; with every disaster you need to determine if it’s going to require that you “Shelter-in-Place” or “Grab-n-Go”. If you’re facing a situation where you determine that you need to Grab-n-Go. There are a few fundamental things that you should plan on.
My brother is a member of a national emergency response team, USAR (Urban Search & Rescue), from the devastation of the World Trade Centers to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, he’s been sent in to deal with the after math.
In talking to him about Katrina he indicated that the items most people had wished they had above all else was Water, Food & Fuel. He indicated that a large majority were operating under the fallacy that in an emergency situation the government would be able to provide everyone with these necessities.
In a Grab-n-Go situation, take the following suggestions to get the most out of your plan:
1. Do Not Delay. If you decide you need to get out of town you need to have the mind set of getting out as quickly as possible. You don’t want to be stuck with the masses in bumper to bumper traffic in the middle of the freeway consuming what fuel you have while your vehicle sits idle. The rule of thumb here is that you make the appropriate plans to mitigate this possibility understanding that in some disasters it may be inevitable. It makes good sense to always keep your fuel level above half a tank. You should also have a couple of Fuel Containers on hand.
2. Know your destination - How severe is the disaster? Did it impact just your house, your neighborhood, your city, your state? You should designate destinations that are safely out of the disaster area but minimize the amount of travel required. If only your neighborhood was impacted, don’t waste time and effort traveling across state if it can be avoided.
3. Identify Alternative Routes - Take the time to identify multiple routes and take the time to drive these routes before hand. Using Google Map is a great start to laying out your routes, but it’s just a start. Driving your routes will give you a better understanding of which routes are likely to be congested or present other challenges.
4. Have Your Supplies Ready - When the time to act has arrived, the time to prepare is over. Not only should already have your food, water and emergency supplies already purchased, but you should also have them packaged, secured and in a place that’s easily accessible. There’s a reason we use the term Grab-n-Go. It’s not, Run-To-The-Store-Really-Quick-Throw-Some-Things-Together-And-Then-Go.
Don’t put off getting your Grab-n-Go plan put into place. Create a plan, write it down, get supplies and do a dry run and put you in your family in the best position possible to weather the storm!
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