It is very important to learn lessons from history. To think you can plan for something without looking at history is dangerous.

Let’s just put terrorism into this scenario and look at resent terrorist attacks in three cities, NYC, Madrid and London. Each of these attacks affected the transport systems, Madrid and London attacks were specifically targeted at the transport systems. The London attack was a sustained attack hitting tube lines and surface roads. In both Madrid and London the transport systems ether ground to a holt or were closed. In NY the shear scale of the attack instantly affected the transport systems.

In all cases the roads were clogged by many thousands of people moving away from the attack location. Then the arthritis started closing off areas to evacuate them, this put even more people on the streets and the road systems ground to a holt and traffic backed up for miles in all directions. Vehicles had no where to go because the roads were blocked by traffic in front and behind including side roads. Add to the fact that the emergency services need to move through this traffic to get to the site of the attack. The authorities will eventually want to turn all the traffic around and clear many of the streets so that the roads are clear for searching for secondary devices, evacuation and emergency services.

Now let’s scale up the scenario to an earthquake, dirty bombs, floods, metropolitan tornados, ice storms or snow. Adding to the fact you may not even be able to reach your vehicle. Transport systems may be blocked by debris, vehicles damaged by falling debris and mass casualties in the street.

Reaching your vehicle may be the desired option to get you home but if that is possible the transport systems may be blocked or very slow moving. Being on foot may be still the best or only option.

It is important to build this fact into you planning. You spend the majority of the day at work; if you work in an office have a kit that will allow you to walk out. Be mindful that you might not have a home to go to so your kit maybe the only things you are left with.

Let the situation dictate your action, it might be a case that you are in relatively safety at work, consider whether it might be a better option to stay put and spend the night or two there. The chances are the building you are in is built to a higher standard than your home; this is true for tower blocks. Many large office building have redundancy built in, they may have back up power systems, large water storage facilities and enough chocolate, crisps and other food stuffs in vending machines and colleagues desks to feed a small army.

Don’t get into the trap of thinking a vehicle is your plan or the answer to your problem. It is not, it is a tool that if you have to hand can aid you in carrying out you plan.