Articles · Topic
Articles about Evacuation
57 articles across 5 sections
Section
Disaster History
Chemical Spill & Hazmat Case Studies
Industrial accidents, train derailments, and hazardous material releases. What to do in the first hour and how to find out what was spilled.
Dam Failure Case Studies
Dam breaches and flooding downstream. How inundation maps work and what households downstream from high-hazard dams need to know.
Flood Case Studies
Flash floods, river floods, and storm surge. The costliest natural disaster by cumulative damage, and one of the most misunderstood.
Hurricane Case Studies
Storm surge, wind damage, flooding, and the long recovery after a major landfalling hurricane. Every category has a different risk profile.
Hurricane Hugo 1989: A 20-Foot Storm Tide, a Flooded Shelter, and an Evacuation That Worked
Hugo struck Sullivan's Island, SC as a Category 4 in September 1989. Most coastal residents evacuated in time, a school used as a shelter flooded six feet deep, and up to 1.5 million customers lost power for weeks.
Landslide Case Studies
Debris flows, mudslides, and slow-moving slope failures. Warning signs, risk factors, and what triggers slides on residential properties.
Nuclear Incident Case Studies
Nuclear plant accidents, radiation releases, and emergency planning zones. What households near nuclear facilities need to know before an event.
Tsunami Case Studies
Wave generation, inundation zones, and the difference between local and distant-source events. Historical case studies from both the Pacific and Atlantic.
Volcanic Eruption Case Studies
Ash fall, lava flows, pyroclastic events, and lahar risk. What households near active volcanoes need to monitor and when evacuation orders cannot be ignored.
Wildfire Case Studies
How wildfires move, why evacuation windows close faster than expected, and what defensible space actually buys a household.
Section
Community
Church Security That Stays Welcoming
Keep a church or house of worship welcoming: trained greeters, behavior-based reporting, three property layers, children's rooms and plans made with police.
Church Tabletop Exercises and Drills
How a house of worship can test its emergency plan: tabletop exercises, short drills, safe practice rules, a ten-minute debrief and a yearly readiness audit.
House of Worship Emergency Plan Guide
Write an emergency operations plan for a house of worship using the six federal steps: team, hazards, goals, actions, a basic plan with annexes, and practice.
Should a Church Be a Disaster Shelter?
A decision guide for houses of worship asked to shelter people overnight: the four honest roles, FEMA's space figures, the gates to pass and when to say no.
When to Stay and When to Leave
A clear framework for the stay-or-leave decision. What makes sheltering in place the right call, when evacuation is the safer choice by hazard, and how to set personal thresholds before the forecast arrives.
Section
Self-Reliance
Transportation Preparedness and Self-Reliance
Domain hub for the ninth self-reliance domain. Your household's ability to move people and supplies when the normal transportation network fails. Two tracks: build capability and when transportation fails.
Cargo and Hauling, Safe Loading, Trailers, and Supply Runs
How to move more than people. Five-priority evacuation loading order, the staged-bin system for 15-minute departure, roof racks and weight limits, hitch cargo carriers, trailers and tow ratings, supply run logistics, and safe cargo loading principles.
Evacuation Driving
Evacuation timing, route planning, vehicle preparation, fuel strategy, and the driving decisions that determine whether your household reaches safety.
Evacuation Vehicle Guide: What You Actually Need
Practical guide to evacuation vehicles: what features matter for evacuation (reliability, fuel range, cargo, ground clearance, towing), what government EMP testing actually found about modern vehicles, seven features worth having in a dedicated BOV, and how to prepare the vehicle you already own with route planning, fuel management, and a vehicle emergency kit.
Caregiver Backup Plans: Who Provides Care When the Primary Caregiver Cannot
How to build a caregiver backup plan that works during evacuations, multi-day outages, and emergencies when the primary caregiver is unavailable. Covers backup identification, care documentation, and
Dementia and Cognitive Care During Disruptions: Planning for Safety and Routine
How to plan for the safety and care of a household member with dementia during power outages, evacuations, and multi-day disruptions. Covers routine preservation, wandering prevention, shelter prepara
Disability and Access Needs, Medical Preparedness
Medical preparedness planning for people with disabilities and access and functional needs. Equipment, evacuation considerations, service animals, communication supports, and pre-registering with loca
Getting Home: A Calm Plan for When You Are Away
A plain-language plan for getting back to your household when the car stalls, the trains stop, or the road closes. Covers routes, communication, who is responsible for whom, and the small decisions that make a long walk routine.
Grab-and-Go Medical Folder: How to Build, Use, and Maintain It
How to assemble, organize, and maintain a grab-and-go medical folder your household can reach in 60 seconds and any caregiver or paramedic can read in two minutes. Planning guidance, not medical advic
Portable Water Filters for Emergency Kits: What to Know Before You Buy
Straw, squeeze, pump, and gravity bag filters compared. What each format handles, what it doesn't, how capacity and flow rate differ, and how to maintain them so they work when needed.
Pregnancy Preparedness
Planning guidance for staying prepared through pregnancy: knowing where you will deliver if your hospital closes, carrying your prenatal records, a prenatal medication supply, and the heat and air-quality planning that matters more when you are expecting.
Seizure Disorder Preparedness
Planning guidance for keeping seizure care steady during disruptions: the medication buffer and unbroken schedule, storing rescue medication, the written caregiver plan and when to call 911, and driving and evacuation planning.
Shelter Priorities by Situation
Stay, go, go low, or go up. Six responses and the first moves for eleven situations, from home fire and tornado to chemical release, wildfire smoke, and extreme heat.
Staying Safe in a Disaster Shelter
Travel and Evacuation Prescriptions: Carrying Medications When You Leave Home
Planning guidance for carrying prescriptions during travel and evacuation: what to pack, how to get through security, how to refill away from home, and what emergency programs exist when medications are lost.
What Shelter Means in Preparedness
Staying home, sheltering in place, a mass care shelter, or evacuating to family: the four ways a household takes shelter, and how to tell when home has stopped working as shelter.
When to Relocate: A Decision Framework for Households with Power-Critical Medical Equipment
A decision framework for households with power-critical medical equipment. Three questions that determine whether to stay with backup power or leave before the outage starts, where to go, and what to bring.
Section
Preparedness
The 90-Day Household Preparedness Guide
A printable 90-day household preparedness guide in 22 short modules with worksheets and a one-page master checklist: the first 72 hours, what each layer costs, a household profile, water storage, sources and treatment with CDC bleach measurements, meal-based food planning and rotation, energy priorities, generator and carbon monoxide safety, cooking and heating without grid power, heat and cold warning signs, medicine and medical devices, sanitation, alerts, staying or evacuating, documents and cash, children, older adults and pets, a daily routine, and a 13-week build schedule and tracker. Opens with the October 2026 Pentagon 90-day base planning news and what official household guidance actually says.
Apartment Evacuation Planning
How to evacuate an apartment when you may not have a car, your elevator is unavailable, and rideshare is not a plan. Transit routes, walkable 72-hour bags,
Apartment Fire Preparedness
Apartment fire preparedness when you share walls, hallways, and exits with other people. Escape planning, smoke alarms, closed doors, fire extinguishe
Apartment Preparedness With Pets
Getting pets down the stairwell quickly, finding pet-friendly shelter, the buddy system for when you are not home, and everything that should be in yo
Bomb Threat: What to Do Right Now
Stay calm and do not hang up. The eight questions to ask a caller, what to notice about the voice, how to preserve a written or emailed threat, and the three moves for a suspicious item. The CISA playbook in plain language.
The Evacuation Bag You Can Actually Carry
The evacuation bag: what to pack, what to skip, and budget and better versions, sourced to Ready.gov, Red Cross, and CDC.
Chemical Spill & Hazmat Preparedness: Shelter-in-Place, Evacuation & Air Safety
Chemical spills and hazmat incidents happen near transportation corridors and industrial sites across the U.S. Learn when to shelter-in-place, when to evacuate, and how to protect your household.
Dam Failure Preparedness: Evacuation, Warning Signs & Flood Response
Over 90,000 dams exist in the U.S., and thousands are rated high-hazard. Learn your downstream risk, what a dam failure sounds like, and how fast you need to move.
Flooding: What to Do Right Now
What to do during river or coastal flooding: when to evacuate, why you never drive into floodwater, and the moving-versus-still-water rule for a stranded vehicle. Immediate action during a flood.
Hurricane Preparedness Checklist
A calm, specific guide to hurricane preparedness for Atlantic and Gulf coast households. Evacuation zones, shutters vs. plywood, fuel storage, and the first 72 hours after.
Hurricane: What to Do Right Now
What to do as a hurricane approaches: the wind-versus-water shelter decision, why storm surge is the leading killer, and evacuate-or-stay judgment. Immediate action for a household in a hurricane's path.
Nuclear & Radiological Incident Preparedness: Shelter, Evacuation & What to Expect
Nuclear and radiological incidents are rare but require specific household responses. Learn the shelter-in-place protocol, what emergency alerts mean, and where to find official guidance.
Pet Preparedness Kit: What Your Dog or Cat Needs When You Evacuate
A pet emergency kit for dogs and cats. Food, water, carrier, records, medications, and comfort items. Built from FEMA, ASPCA, and Red Cross guidance. Budget and better versions.
Preparedness When Someone Has Dementia
Emergency preparedness for caregivers of people with dementia. Evacuation resistance, wandering risk, medication compliance, routine disruption, and keeping both person and caregiver safe.
The Apartment Fire Grab Kit
What to keep by the door when you live in an apartment. Keys, phone, glasses, medications, documents, pet supplies, and a change of clothes. Built for
Tsunami Preparedness: Warning Signs, Evacuation Zones & Vertical Escape
Tsunamis can arrive in minutes after a coastal earthquake. Know your evacuation zone, recognize the natural warning signs, and plan your route to high ground.
Volcanic Eruption Preparedness: Ashfall, Lahars & Air Quality
The U.S. has 161 active volcanoes. Eruptions produce ashfall, lahars, pyroclastic flows, and air quality crises. Learn what threatens your area and how to prepare.
Volcano: What to Do Right Now
What to do during a volcanic eruption or ashfall: ash is rock and glass, protecting lungs and eyes, sealing your home, lahars and high ground, and roof-collapse risk. Immediate action during a volcanic event.
War: What to Do When You Have Done Nothing to Prepare
What changes for a civilian household in wartime: securing documents, cash, and medications, the stay-or-leave decision, and running a household when supply chains break. A complete action plan drawn from Sarajevo, Ukraine, and the WWII home front.
When to Leave vs. Shelter in Place
The leave-or-stay decision is different when you live in an apartment. A practical framework for deciding whether your unit is safe enough to stay, wh
When to Stay and When to Evacuate: A Senior Decision Framework
A three-part decision framework: stay when home remains safe, leave early when conditions are worsening, leave immediately when remaining is dangerous. For seniors, leaving early is often the most important option.
Wildfire Home Preparation
A calm, specific guide to preparing your home for wildfire. Defensible space zones, ember intrusion, smoke protection, and the go-or-stay decision.
Wildfire: What to Do Right Now
What to do when wildfire threatens: leave before you see flames because embers travel miles, close but do not lock, lights on for firefighters, and what to do if caught in smoke or unable to evacuate. Immediate action during a wildfire.
Section
Gear and Buying Guides
Best Approved Gas Cans for Emergency Fuel Storage (2026)
No-Spill 1450 vs. Scepter Military Style: two CARB-compliant, spill-proof gas cans compared for evacuation fuel storage, plus how to store and rotate fuel safely.
NOLS Wilderness Medicine
The official NOLS course textbook for wilderness medicine, how to assess, treat, and stabilize when professional care is hours away. Why we recommend it, what readers say, and how to buy or borrow it