If you are evacuating in a hurricane, be careful. Listen to local authorities on when to leave. Even though we know plenty of people who ignore it, it is better to be safe than sorry. On that note, here are some things to consider from our continually updated list:
- Make sure you have sufficient fuel. Fill up before you go or as soon as possible after you leave. Keep it at least half a tank so that if you hit a 50 mile traffic jam you don’t run out of gasoline in it.
- Leave enough time to get out of the way of the storm. You don’t want to be stuck on the road somewhere when surge hits or high winds arrive. You want to get out before bridges are closed and you are trapped on a barrier island.
- If you have an electric car leave extra time. Remember that many electric cars don’t have the range that gasoline powered cars do and while a gas fueled car can be refilled in a few minutes, it takes longer to charge an electric vehicle and there may be lines to do so. Likewise, plan a route that has charging stations.
- Make sure you have food, medicines and water with you.
- Have some cash. Have some smaller bills – e.g. not all $50s or $20s. When you return (or even when you are evacuating) power may be out and so credit cards won’t work.
- Lock your house before you leave. Turn off power and electronics for things that don’t need power continuously. For example, if we get a big storm surge, we don’t want pool equipment damaged more than it otherwise could be, so we turn off the pool pump etc at the breaker.
- As in the preparing for a hurricane list, turn down your freezer and refrigerator before you leave so give you as much time as possible for food to remain fresh if power is lost. We freeze water in a small paper cup and put a penny on top of it once frozen. If the power is out too long and comes back on, the penny will sink and be refrozen on the bottom of the cup. An easy way to tell if things defrosted.
- Make sure you bring important documents and papers. Valuables too if you don’t have secure storage.
Most of the tips above apply equally to if you choose to not evacuate.
If you have additional thoughts and comments, let us know below!
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