My family was evacuated during a train derailment in Mississauga in 1979. It was the largest peacetime evacuation in North American history until the evacuation of New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and remains the second-largest as of 2016.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_Mississauga_train_derailment



My dad packed up us kids and took us to my grandparents house while my mom, a nurse, went to work to help evacuate the nursing home she worked in. The experience made a lasting impression on 8 year old me. Back then, it felt like an adventure but now, as a parent, I can only imagine the nightmare it must have been.

I live near national rail lines now and being prepared for a derailment is a top priority for our family. Bug-out bags are are always at the ready and the car is always least half full of fuel for a trip out of town for a few days or a week. Our plan is to stay with relatives out of town. (I expect that a train disaster here would only be local in nature. In other words, not part of some greater calamity, and that our out of town destinations would still be viable.)

Traffic could be a challenge as we'd all likely be pushed North, away from the rail lines which are mostly to the South of us. Hotels and motels on the out of town routes would fill quickly. Reminds me of a trip to Louisiana a few years ago. We arrived during a mass of festivals and ended up driving the entire North-South route from New Orleans to Shreveport and then through Texas looking for a hotel room. Unable to find a vacancy, we slept in the car. The weather was great but I wouldn't expect that here, so my car preps include shelter.