Evacuation, Bugout, or Get Out of Dodge

I grew up in the West in a predominantly LDS city. It still has many members but I wouldn’t call it predominant LDS anymore. Anyway, I was in a city but the suburbs. It was a good place to grow up. After I was married we joined the military. The military exposes you to many places, people, and things. The military taught me many things and it was a good experience for us. Half of our many kids were born on a military base. I like many things about the city. We now live outside of a small town. I tell you all this vague information just so I can ask you to get out of the city.
Out of the city? That is a strange request. Yes it is. Let me explain why.
I’ve said many times that I am a prepper. To be honest, I was preparing before “preppers” even existed! I think we were called “nuts” or “extremists” back then. Anyway, in my experience I would not want to be near a city in any kind of preparedness scenario you can think of. Being in a city only makes whatever preparedness scenario worse. There are maybe a few exceptions to this. More people can mean more like-minded people to ban together. You may have better access to training and resources. But all these things are pre-preparedness scenario. During a prep-scenario all those people can make things pretty bad.
Cities are harder to evacuate. There is more crime and more criminals. If you do not have an evacuation plan from a city, you could find yourself in a lot of trouble. Even with a plan, cities give you different challenges than a smaller town.
I’m not meaning to make this an anti-city rant, I just want you who are there to understand your challenges.
In reading an article written by a sociology professor who studies natural disasters and human reactions to them I learned something.
“Something happened in New Orleans the week of Aug. 29, 2005, that Dennis Mileti had never seen before in his more than three decades of studying natural disasters and human reactions to them: People were left behind during a mass evacuation.”

He had considered it a waste of time to plan for mass transportation to help evacuate a city. His understanding of human nature led him to count on the idea that neighbors would not leave neighbors behind. That’s what happened in evacuations prior to Katrina.

The breakdown in society has made people uncaring and selfish. There are a lot of good people out there but many are only looking out for themselves.

You should not depend on the kindness of others to get you out of a city.

Sometimes you receive an evacuation suggestion (voluntary) or order.
There’s one major problem, however: human nature. Social scientists know that every evacuation involves a period of hesitancy when people mill about. For example, say the fire alarm goes off at work. Chances are people will gather to discuss what they should do, sometimes shouting over the din of evacuation alarms. Large groups tend to mill longer than small groups.

Studies of the World Trade Center evacuation showed that people in large work groups took longer to evacuate than people in smaller work groups.

Knowing when to leave is very important. That is where information the Spirit is something that you should have in making this decision. Remember, if you are wrong and evacuate, coming back to a job, school, and anything else in your life is not that difficult after only a few days. I’d rather be safe than sorry. Be wise in your choice to leave, but the longer you wait, the more difficult it can become. As far as natural disasters are concerned scientists are debating whether global warming is to blame for the seemingly more intense and frequent storms, or if this is part of a more predictable cycle of heightened hurricane activity. Science will not find the answers because science is man’s limited knowledge. As you learn more about the signs of the second coming, you will know why nature seems to be more violent. I guess there probably is a scientific reason, but knowing that reason won’t stop the weather.

I’ve included a very basic evacuation plan for you to start your own.

Preparing an Emergency Evacuation Plan
An emergency evacuation plan has two parts: evacuation from your house, and evacuation from your neighborhood. An evacuation plan for your home is useful not only for disasters, but also for fires or other incidents in your home.
Important points to remember when creating an evacuation plan for your home are:
 You should have at least two (2) escape routes from each room.
 You should mark the locations of any escape ladders, or other special equipment.
 You should mark the locations of fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, first aid kits, disaster 72 hour kit.
 You should mark the locations of the shutoffs for gas, water, and electricity.
 For people with medical conditions or disabilities, mark their location as well as the location of any special equipment they will immediately need.
Emergency Evacuation Inventory
If you have to evacuate your house, you may have as little as 10 minutes. Under these circumstances, trying to think of what to save is very difficult. Take some time now to think about what items you would try to take with you. Write down a list of the high priority items you would take if you only had 10 minutes to evacuate your house. Remember, you may have to carry everything.
Evacuation Steps
If you have time during an evacuation, you may want to take steps to secure your house. Give some thought to what things you need to do to secure your house. Write down your plans and keep the paper in a safe and accessible location.
Household Emergency Evacuation Plan
 Draw your building’s floorplan, then draw your evacuation routes and a meeting place.
 Make one drawing for each story of the building. Keep in a safe place and review often with your family.
 Have maps ready for the following:
 Closest evacuation centers.
 Main and Alternative routes for leaving the city in North, South, East and West directions.
 Meetup spots outside the affected areas. For example: I live approximately 50 miles east of a nuclear power plant. Should there be an accident or an attack and the wind is blowing in an Easterly direction, our plan is to head north and meet up in a town approximately 60 miles north of my home.
Choosing An Out-of-Area Contact:
During an emergency local phone service may be limited, so you should arrange with someone outside your area to be your family contact.
Your contact person should have voice mail or an answering machine.
Ensure that every family member knows that they should listen to the radio or TV for telephone use instructions, then phone your out-of-area contact person to say how and where they are and what their plans are.
Keep calls short, and if possible, arrange to call the contact person back at a specified time for another check-in.
Choosing A Place to Meet:
At the time of an emergency, your family may not be together. It is important to choose family meeting places.
Remember that bridges may be out and roads may be blocked by debris, so choose your meeting places carefully with access in mind.
Pick places that are easy to identify, that can be reached on foot if necessary, and that are in an accessible, open area.
Take into account where each of you will likely be at different times and on different days.
The emergency evacuation plan for your neighborhood can be handy in a large disaster. By plotting out potential routes on a city map before the disaster, you will save yourself from having to figure something out while in a hurry.
Things to think about when crafting your neighborhood evacuation plan include:
You should plan two (2) routes for each direction. (North, South, East, West.)
You should avoid routes with obvious hazards, or routes which are likely to be impassible in a disaster. (You probably will want to drive the routes before deciding.) And avoid common routes that may be congested during an emergency.
Establish plans with other family members for meeting up outside of the evacuated area. Make sure each member knows the location of the established meeting points.
You should have a phone list of 3 contacts, outside of your area. Each family member should carry a personal copy of this list. In an emergency, communications may be down in your area. Family members can contact the persons out of the emergency area to pass along messages and to check on the welfare of other family members.
Be sure that each family member has a copy of the evacuation plan, maps and telephone numbers.
You should also allow for an evacuation scenario, while at work.
Keep your emergency evacuation plans in a safe location with your 72 hour kit.

I can tell you from experience that bugging out is a stressful time. Make it easier by planning and preparing every needful thing.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn

Evacuating can be a smooth, relatively painless event if you plan. But you must prepare and plan.
Living in a city has its challenges, think of what you may have to deal with and plan accordingly. Write down your plans and review them and practice them. Find out if your city or town has an evacuation plan and get a copy of it.