Natural Disaster Evacuation Plans: please share

We don't get a lot of natural disasters here in AZ, and unless the wildfires get apocalyptic we're not in danger from them. We do have an evac plan and a list of meeting places and what each of us is responsible to get out of the house. I don't worry about the computer or papers for the most part, I have digitized everything and it's stored in the cloud on an encrypted service.

* People
* Pets (and the chickens are optional. If they're in the coop and I can catch them they'll go, if they're running the yard and time is critical, unfortunately they are on their own. Same with the tortosies. We take the ones we can catch in 1 minute or less.)
* Clothing
* Food and water
* Meds
* Cameras and assorted gear
* If possible, some of the higher value collectibles. They're insured, but they're also sentimental.
* If possible, my desktop computer.

We've practiced a couple of times, if we have 60 minutes to clear out, we can do all of this.

Then we have a series of gradually increasing distance places to meet up (depending on the range of the disaster). I also have some decent 2 way radios with good range so in case cell networks are overwhelmed or down we can still coordinate between cars to a certain degree.

We're far from prepared, but at least we know if we have to we can do OK.

Practice! Yes. That is a great idea. So yesterday a wildfire broke out within eyesight of my home. We were talking about if we have to evacuate today. My husband said the chickens and ducks might have to stay, I said we at least have to unlock the cages and "set them free" so they have a chance. It's totally possible the fire department calls for evacuation and lets people return home in a few days, happens all the time. This way at least the birds can forage and find the creek if no one is around to care for them.
 
The Weston Pass Fire is growing at alarming rate with 0 containment and we are trying to remain hopeful that we will not need to evacuate, but the smoke is getting really bad.


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Ever since I saw this picture of "chicken wraps" from the FL hurricane evacuations I have wondered what we would do. Not a lot to worry about here except 3 Mile Island nuclear plant. We live on top of a knoll so no flooding, fires don't really happen here. Blizzards for sure and I have redone the coop to withstand them. But you never know what might happen.....

In a pinch, I think this worked for them.
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Ever since I saw this picture of "chicken wraps" from the FL hurricane evacuations I have wondered what we would do. Not a lot to worry about here except 3 Mile Island nuclear plant. We live on top of a knoll so no flooding, fires don't really happen here. Blizzards for sure and I have redone the coop to withstand them. But you never know what might happen.....

In a pinch, I think this worked for them.
View attachment 1461215

Wow! I have never seen such a thing, but this seriously would solve my dilemma. I have a large dog crate everyone would fit in to transport them somewhere safe, but there would be fighting in the crate for sure if EVERYONE was made to share just one large dog crate. This looks like it would totally work. It would just be for an hour tops to drive them to a safe spot. They generally make schools or fairgrounds or local animal shelters open to accept evacuated animals. Thank you for sharing this photo.
 
Wow! I have never seen such a thing, but this seriously would solve my dilemma. I have a large dog crate everyone would fit in to transport them somewhere safe, but there would be fighting in the crate for sure if EVERYONE was made to share just one large dog crate. This looks like it would totally work. It would just be for an hour tops to drive them to a safe spot. They generally make schools or fairgrounds or local animal shelters open to accept evacuated animals. Thank you for sharing this photo.

Not my idea but I'll take credit, lol. :cool:
 
I live in the mountains in Southern California, I have had to evacuate before and every summer its on my mind. Grab the kids, dog and passports if we have time. Top off the chickens food and water and turn off the auto pop door. If they do not burn up or die of smoke inhalation they should survive at least two weeks without care. Hope for the best.

Thats the plan.

Gary
 
Last year we were required to evacuate three times. We didn't leave any of those times! We did pack up, clothes, medications, laptop and had a couple of coolers ready. We have four dogs and would take them, but there is nothing we have to transport 28 chickens! We would have opened the runs and let them go, the best we can do. We are out in the foothills, 25 miles from town. 80 homes were destroyed last year and we were spared from the fires. We learned to have extra of everything. Lots of chicken food, lots of dog food, lots of people food in the freezer and spare fridge in the garage. We have two generators, one to run the house and one for the well in case of power outage. We will probably be burned out sometime in the future, however, that is why we have insurance! We are 15 minutes from ready to evacuate at any time now!
 
Ever since I saw this picture of "chicken wraps" from the FL hurricane evacuations I have wondered what we would do. Not a lot to worry about here except 3 Mile Island nuclear plant. We live on top of a knoll so no flooding, fires don't really happen here. Blizzards for sure and I have redone the coop to withstand them. But you never know what might happen.....

In a pinch, I think this worked for them.
View attachment 1461215
My family already thinks I am chicken lady crazy- we live on gulf coast and hurricanes are a real threat, so I sent that picture to my family! Told them I had my evacuation plan all ready
 
My family already thinks I am chicken lady crazy- we live on gulf coast and hurricanes are a real threat, so I sent that picture to my family! Told them I had my evacuation plan all ready

I sent it to everyone when I first saw it. Necessity is the mother of some amazing solutions.
 

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