Evacuation List

Today we’re going to create an evacuation list, which I keep as the very first page someone would see when they open my emergency binder—even before the table of contents. You can put this list wherever you see fit, but I felt having it front and center was the best place, since my husband and I know firsthand how common sense sometimes goes out the window in an emergency situation.

Some of the things on this list may seem obvious, or you may think I have things wrongly categorized. But trust me, you’re time is limited and when you’re in an emergency situation like we experienced when our house burned down in the 2017 wildfire, you will not be thinking clearly. You will be in a state of panic and shock. I ran around blindly for a couple minutes before grabbing only my daughter’s stuffed teddy bear. At the time, I couldn’t think plainly enough to know what should be a priority. And, to be honest, in the back of my head, I was sure our house would not burn down. I mean, that sort of stuff only ever happens to other people, right?

Wrong! And all the more reason to prepare one of these emergency evacuation priority lists for your emergency binder.

Top Priority

If you have virtually no warning and are fleeing for your life, JUST GO! I mean it. It may seem obvious, but when you’re in that situation, you may find yourself thinking about things that seem like top priority in the moment. But when weighed against your life, objects seem less important. Yes, you will miss certain sentimental and irreplaceable things (all those well-wishers who say everything is replaceable have never experienced total loss like this). For years to come, you will continue to remember new things that you lost and feel sorrow. But without a doubt, your life is the most important thing. The top priority is you, your family, and your pets (if you can’t take your pets with you for whatever reason, open doors and/or gates so they stand a chance at survival). Then, JUST GO!

Medium Priority

Medium priority would be if you have some time, but not a whole lot (an hour or less, for example). That may sound like a lot of time, but trust me, it’s not. When you have your whole life and all of your belongings and mementos to consider, an hour is not enough time to think through what to grab. In my medium priority list, I put things that would be a hassle to replace and things that you may need in the immediate future in order to move on with life.

On my list, I included things such as cell phones, wallets, computer, and bill folders. After the wildfire that we experienced, having these items saved us tremendous valuable time that other victims had to spend in long lines in order to replace their driver’s licenses, passports, and other important documents. It also saved some us stress by having our computer and bill folders handy so we could get in touch with each company we did ongoing business with (like utility companies) to cancel or suspend services. Don’t forget to add your emergency binder to this section as well (this is its moment in the sun!). If you create your emergency binder like mine, it should already contain many of these important documents including social security cards, certified birth certificates, etc. That means by simply grabbing your binder, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and headaches.

Lowest Priority

It’s difficult to consider anything the “lowest priority,” but unfortunately, it can’t all be a top priority. The truth of the matter is that in some situations you just don’t have time to get everything and you will be forced to make choices—maybe even between your life and your belongings. But in the lowest priority category, you will need to have a pretty decent warning time before you need to evacuate.

Under this category, there’s no need to panic or immediately rush out the door, but you will need to start preparing and gathering things so that you can leave semi soon—maybe you’re only on evacuation warning and not a mandatory order yet. Even just on an evacuation warning, I highly recommend you face reality and start preparing immediately. Don’t bury your head in the sand because if push comes to shove, you will regret not taking advantage of the extra time.

In this category, I included things like reading glasses, clothes, toiletries, and special mementos (e.g., homemade blankets, jewelry, baby books, etc.). You’ll notice this is my actual lowest priority list and not just a generic example, as it includes real items specific to my family, like my horse tack and my late father-in-law’s pocket knife. Spend some time on this list and consider what those items are for you.

Feel free to rearrange things as you see fit. For example, my husband considers our guns to be a medium priority rather than lowest, as I listed here. Just keep in mind that in such a situation, you will have to make choices and they are never easy. 

Grab Bag

You may also want to prepare a grab bag so that even in a top-priority, fleeing-for-your-life situation, you could grab the pre-packed bag and go. I would recommend packing at least one set of clothes per person, pajamas, toothbrushes, toothpaste, hair brush, maybe a stuffed animal or something comforting for the kids, and possibly a special memento that you don’t use on a daily basis, but would like to save. Anything you put in this grab bag should be backup items that you don’t need to use otherwise, but would be nice to have ready to go in an emergency. 

You don’t need to be fashionable when you’re in survival mode. Just pack some extra jeans or leggings, a t-shirt, sweatshirt, etc. and don’t dwell on what others will think—you will have just been through a major traumatic event! And if you’re packing for kids who are still growing, be sure to return to this bag from time to time to change out the clothes for their current sizes.

I hope you found this section helpful. I struggled with creating my own version of this list and how to prioritize each thing, but it’s something you will have to face in the event of an emergency. It’s much easier to do so now than when you’re on a time crunch. I hope this post helped you start the thought process for yourself.

Next Time…

…we will really start to dig in and cover the Basics Section. See you soon!