A view from the other side of the window:

One thing that those who could end up being evacuees might want to keep in mind is that people might be more likely to offer some assistance if the evacuees could provide a certain amount of help for themselves, rather than being just a whining pit of need (aka 'parasite'). Face it, the fewer demands that are made by those in need, the more they are likely be offered.

For instance, suppose someone told me that in the long line of people coming off the highway (think Katrina) there were four or five families who had bugged out with camping gear, bucket toilets, food, cook gear/stoves, and pets with food, crates and restraints, etc. I would feel much less reluctant to offer them space on my flat, fenced, open, mowed, two-thirds acre where they could take advantage of the bordering shade trees and a long garden hose, than I would to those people who had made no plans, and made no attempts to alleviate their own potential problems.

As long as they were obviously trying to do their part, I would be willing to provide a safer, more private and relaxing place for a temporary stay than they would have alongside a freeway, or hiding in a tangle of blackberry bushes fifty feet from an outdoor meth lab, or homeless paranoid whacko.

They would have a place where they could feel safe, keep their children confined to a limited area, and have pets and belongings right there with them.

I could feel good about being able to help without that uneasy feeling that they would be a financial and emotional drain, or having strangers tramping through my home at all hours.

If the situation were reversed, and I was the one who needed a safe place to stay, I would feel like an idiot if I didn't have the bare necessities with me. And I think I would be WAAAAAY too embarrassed to beg for help, when I had done nothing to help myself.

Sue