Questions to ask:
What scenario are you preparing for?
Why are you leaving your home/office/city/area?
Where will you go?
When will you be returning home?
Who will be coming with you?
How will you be traveling?

I kind of broke my packing list down by groups. If you're evacuating to a family or friend's place your needs will be different than if you're going to a hotel/motel in a different town, or if you're evacuating to a community shelter.

Look at the items that you need or rely on daily, i.e. medications & hygiene items. These are things that you'll need to have available wherever you are. Depending on the event, you may be able to pick them up at a local store.

My categories are:
First Aid
Signal
Shelter
Fire
Water
Tools
Administration (papers, contacts, etc)
Clothing
Security.

I also added a list of things to grab on the way out and where they were.

Depending on how much time you have to evacuate will depend on what you are able to grab. As we saw in the fires in California recently, there was a knock on the door and you were told to leave immediately.

I wanted to know how much weight I am carrying. We have a two-pound scale. Therefore, I weighed the emptied bag, most often used items and added it up. Using rounded numbers, it's 8 1/4 pounds.

Jeanette Isabelle

Sounds about right — then add water.

The 8 1/4 pounds include an 8-ounce bottle of water.

Jeanette Isabelle

We have different opinions on how much water is required in a GHB. 8 ounces is one glass of water. IMO a GHB needs a lot more than that. In southern California and I imagine central Florida, staying hydrated should be a priority. The target for my GHB is 4 liters.

The 8-ounce bottle of water I mentioned is what's in my EDC bag. I carry an additional bottle of water which is refillable with any drinking fountain.

Jeanette Isabelle

I think a container is more important. Then you can choose when to fill it for the long bus ride home. An empty liter water bottle or two in each of my cars

Unlike the arrid regions, water is plentiful here but keeping a bottle in the truck in winter isn't possible as it freezes solid in a few hours and destroys the steel container it's in. I try to carry a full stainless steel bottle in and out with me, but sometimes it gets left behind. I have an empty SS bottle in the kit at all times, and a Katadyn filter. As I age, the importance of this piece of gear increases. It makes getting stuck in traffic more bearable. Fortunately, they come in olive green also...

"You never purchases water. You just rent it." How true!

In an immediate urban evacuation, your top priorities are water and cash. It is hard to have too much of either. Other categories mentioned are important as well, and highly desirable, but at a short distance from the incident, life goes on as normal (except in a major earthquake or widespread storm).

My preference in water containers is a stainless steel cup holding a liter canteen (usually the classic Nalgene, but there are various drink bottles which will fit as well). Plastic containers won't crack unless completely filled and you can make coffee/tea/etc to your heart's content in the cup. Now we need a small stove....sugar?....

Soft plastic, like one-use water bottles, don't crack but the frozen water inside is not immediately available to drink either. Quicker to melt snow in an emergency than wait for clear hard block ice to melt in the car. Hard plastic will split open and steel will split or warp if left in the vehicle overnight. I have several 18 oz Kleen Kanteens (which are always in a neoprene insulated sleeve) that I had to pound the bottom back in with a hammer so they would stand on end again. I have a small pot and an Esbit stove in the back just in case. In wintertime in this climate (-10 F and breezy this weekend) , staying warm and having suitable spare outerwear, footwear, hats, gloves, is more important than food or water for the short term.