\0/ As this is prep month, just this morning we filled my truck with gas from the gas containers…then DH went immediately to refill them and add stabilizer. So I’m assuming that Daisy’s 5 minute warning takes place right now….with filled truck, car, and gas containers….. 😉
Having packed up for real Evac and dozen’s of PRE- Evac situations, I know that 5 minutes is barely time to grab the dog and the bags situated right by the door. At that, I’d be tossing them over the 2nd story porch railing and DH would be stuffing them into the car/truck. Try timing an Evac and see…. 5 minutes is NO TIME.
I have a REMINDER CARD made from the back side of a cereal box. Written LARGE in magic marker so I don’t need to find my reader glasses. Lists several things that should be included in any Evac …stuff that can’t be positioned on the shelves by the front door. Reminder Card is pinned to the shelves.
Sooo important from that list would be: 1) M.I.P. box [most important papers] from a more secure location than those shelves. 2) Meds. 3) Ice/gel packs for me. 4) Water….no, I have water in truck/car except during winter, it’s frozen. 5) Adaptive equipment. 6) Dog food/dishes for “She Who Won’t Eat From Anything Else”…Hmph! 7) Laptop/Kindle. 8) Certain Prep devices. Etc. ….
About 15 Very Important Items are written on that large Reminder……of which in a 5 minute warning, I might get the first three while shoving my feet into Crocks and snapping the leash onto the dog. And that’s calculating that DH is home [today] and helping. RUN in ways only a massive adrenaline surge allows me. I’ll pay later.
Since much of our basic camping stuff “lives” in my truck [except anything that smells of FOOD – cuz our bears would rip my topper apart to get to any of that] we have the option of camping if we go left. We have friends not far away that have invited us but usually that would be too close…they’d be near Evac too. If we had to go far to the left….that would be camping. There is nothing out there and only one highway most of the way to get there. Backed-Up-Traffic. Further is small towns and tiny towns that would be overrun before we arrived. But a lot of open land. We could wait it out camping…but I’d need to find a stream and trees to be safe from heat. [Not even going to think of the snakes who are there, that we don’t have. The difference between high and low country.]
If we could go right, we’d go to our elderlies. We have back roads ….unless those would be unsafe from whatever is causing the Evac. We’ve already done this Evac InRealLife. Back roads for most of it. Small town; big enough for a Walmart. And a place to stay. BTDT until that town was put under Pre-EVAC notice. Then we moved to lower elevation again….
In that long-ago Evac, we left before official Evac was called. We left in THICK smoke. We managed to Evac [with help cuz we were early] the baby ducks, horses, dog and cats. Our animals were spread over 3 counties by the time all was said and done. Horses kept changing locations …cuz helpful hosts were run out by that monster wildfire and less helpful hosts only thot they would have to host our horses for 3 days. Evac was far more than three days…
LIVE AND DIE BY PLAN B, C, AND D!!!
In a 5 minute Evac, the ducks would stay on the pond – for better or worse. We have crates and they always toodle up to see us if we are in the barnyard. Easy to round them up but…no time. Their crates “live” right there on their pen……cuz animal rescue sometimes will come and grab animals they can find during an Evac situation.
The horses…. I would not even have time to put on their halters with our I.D. on them….let alone try to hitch the horse trailer that fits 1 and a half horses. Previous horses were all trained come along, me holding lead rope out my driver’s side window. These….Are….Not. But we’d stop to open their gate if it was a wildfire Evac. Other options only possible with a longer warning.
Do not be 5 minutes late in Evacuating Human Life….for the sake of maybe evacuating beloved animals. 🙁 🙁 🙁 Give them a chance if you can....but don’t let your family mourn your death for an animal. The dog would be with us, quickly and easily.
OldMtWoman ….detest EVAC {shudder}
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This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by
OldMt Woman.