Evacuating in an Emergency

LadyTexan

Greetings. When the Guadalupe River recently flooded, the police ordered everyone on my street to evacuate. It was a very scary experience. Here are some lessons I learned:

• It could happen to anyone at anytime
• Follow the directives of the authorities
• Be calm and be firm with your PWD
• Know where to go and how to get there
• Having a "Go Bag" by the front door makes a difference
• Stay out of the way of the responders

I suspect disasters are different, but some lessons I learned may be helpful if it ever happens to you.

Fortunately the predawn police car sirens in my neighborhood, got my attention, I ventured onto my front porch to investigate the activity. I walked down the street to further investigate where I saw the flashing lights. This allowed me to figure out the river was rising, however, it probably was not a wise choice to venture out. The emergency could have been anything from a chemical spill to an active shooter and being outside was definitely a risk. I returned home and paid close attention to my cell phone. I paid close attention to what was going on outside. I got dressed and considered my course of action. At this time my 85 yo mother with dementia and my 87 yo father were still sleeping. Both parents are ambulatory. Both parents are extremely hard of hearing.

I keep a Go Bag by the front door. In the bag, I keep the

• bottles of the prescribed meds for everyone in the household,
• a comprehensive list of the meds and who takes what and why,
• incontinence supplies, disposable briefs, wipes and blue gloves.

At this time, I threw the cell phone chargers into the bag. I gathered Hap (my dog's) leash and remained alert

The police ran down the street and yelled the evacuation directive. ……. to be continued (I'll write more soon). -LT

Jgirl57

Thank you Lady Texan!! Good to hear that your fur pal Hap is still with you. Thanks for the go bag tip

SDianeL

thank you.