How do you know that three of the routes will have no traffic on them?

Craig and Sheepdog, let's say TSHTF and officials evict you from your homes and your pets are forbidden to come with you, say to a local gymnasium or athletic field, etc. You might need a plan for another place to go, etc. Just a thought.

Who said I did not have a plan? Multiple plans like an onion layer after layer!! I just said that I was not planning on bugging as a first option!!

For people who plan on staying do you have a supply of wood, nails, and or screws to board up any windows/rooms/doors that may be damaged or need securing? I think this would help 'secure' your house because once chaos strikes there will be a lot of looting and vandals.

Susan,

The response to your question will vary depending on the local topography, the time of year, weather, and the type of threat or disaster. Being in the Northwest, you are familiar with the threats we can encounter from the weather, terrain, and volcanos. The Midwest, desert areas, East, and Gulf Coast have different scenarios to consider. Having been in disaster planning and response for a major utility, the best advice in most circumstances is to remain at home, unless told otherwise, until the threat is over and the local infrastructure has been restored to safe traveling conditions.

However, as good as we think we are at predicting threats, humbling surprises constantly occur that forces unexpected flight from your home.

When I was a young boy in Central Illinois, we had a very wet spring where there was considerable flooding. Our family was not concerned since we were at a relatively high elevation and not in a flood zone but many others had lost their homes. All temporary shelters, hotels, and motels were full. But it kept on raining. One night part of our new home sank almost out of sight. My parents, brother, sister and I escaped but my first dog was crushed.

We later found out from a very old neighbor, who used to be a coal miner, that the entire area was crisscrossed with long lost coal mine tunnels. A tunnel which ran below our house had become a river when an old air shaft seal had collapsed and started draining many acres of land. The tunnel’s supporting timbers were washed away and the tunnel collapsed. With the force of the rushing water, the debris that fell in from tunnel’s ceiling were also washed away.

For two days, still raining, we could only find shelter in a garage. There was very little we initially could take with us because we did not know what was happening. It is one thing to think the sky is falling yet another not to know where it is safe to walk when the earth below your feet is falling.

I believe that episode made my whole family aware of planning for disasters. We planned for both what we could expect to happen and for the unexpected!

You know, Susan, your post reminds me that I need to get off my can and reevaluate my plan. When I lived in Northern VA, my plan was to Bug Out with my family. My parent's house is pretty close to terrorist targets so I think they should bail if they can, and even hoof it if necessary.

Now, though, since I'm married and moved to a relatively small town, I think I'd Bug In. The area has a number of things that would make it pretty easy, and if my husband and I need to bail, we'd probably just meet at his parent's house in the country.

My only problem is that I'd want my parents and family back home to Bug Out, but I think they'd want to stay, even if they are woefully underprepared for home defense.

When I was a kid growing up on the Redneck Rivera (Gulf Coast) we had little things called hurricanes that would come through from time to time to do structural test on the buildings in the area. Now many of these buildings would fail out right and leave nothing much but a foundation to remind people not to use that style of construction in the future. One such place was a Stop and Rob (Quick Stop Store) that had nothing left but the foundation and the rows of shelves and coolers. Not exactly something you could secure with a piece of plywood and a few nails. The owners however wished to control access to what would otherwise be help your self “shopping” and did it simply and easily with one small employee and one very large shotgun. It had the same effect as all the plywood and nails you could hope to have.
I have many ways to secure my place should it become damaged even though I don’t think it would be a big problem. Right now I lock my doors day and night not that I am afraid someone will break in a steal something. I do it to keep my mastiff from bounding out to guard the whole neighborhood. Should someone come into my house disaster or no disaster they could only hope I am home to rescue them from being sat on by the dog until I get home.

SheepDog- Not to be rude but your 1 dog is no match for a gang that decides your house has something they want... and neither are you with your 1 shotgun with what 4 or 5 shots max? Boarding up your windows not only makes it harder for someone to get in but it leaves you with the element of surprise - no one is gonna see you walking around in there now. Board up your house leave a front and rear exit and mabe a 'secret' one this would help you control the intrudes to some degree so you could cencentrate your efforts.

Well, I hate to be the nasty redneck voice, but....

Bug out bags for folks in an urban or suburban area should, in my humble opinion, be enough to get you to shelter and stay there for a few days until the relief supplies start showing up. Please, I'm begging you, don't run to the "wilds" If you haven't preplanned it. Relief operations would be expecting people to be close to the incident, not 300 miles away. Mine is to get me from where I am to my folks, on foot if needed. I have the advantage in that I can probably count on safe haven, even if it means sleeping in the hay loft, every 10 miles or so on my primary, secondary and tertiary routes.

Let's say, for the sake of arguement, that someone nukes Boston. I'm three hours away if the roads are playing nice. IN those three hours, folks around here will strip the gas stations, grocery stores and everythign else of supplies, becuase we are painfully aware of the fact that most esscential services are resupplied every two to three days. And then, people dig in.

I hate to rain on people's parades, but many rural dwellers still harbour a certain distrust towards city people. (And in many places, it is getting worse, mostly due to property taxes jumping.) I would ask people to leave my family land if I didn't know them, and if I knew them, they would be able to go to the front door. Squatters would be unwelcome unless they could convince me a real hurry that I should let them stay there, and hungry kids wouldn't be enough. (We are talking like a surgeon, and I'd route you the hospital closest.) I'd give you basic first aid items if I had them to spare and you needed them, and I'd let you fill your water bottles from one of the ponds, but that would be it. And I'm a nice guy. A lot of my neighbors would assume you were looters.

I'm not trying to sound like a jerk, but I will say it as I see it. My family puts in a garden for 6 people, 60 would strip it in an hour or less. We have a well, it has a limit. We don't have much space in the house, and most of the land is forested- the last thing we'd need in that scenario is a forest fire started by someone careless. The game is finite. Yes, we have a bit of land. In a city, a couple thousand might live in the same amount of area. But we can not supply that many people.

I'm also assuming that anything that involved people running more than 100 miles would be bad. As in martial law bad.

In almost any disaster situation I would try to shelter in place. If I was away from home I would try to stay put until things settled down before I tryed to make it home - if I thought my home or my stuff would still be there. If there was a man made disaster like a nuclear plant meltdown or a terrorist attack ; biological or nuclear ; and the weather pattern was blowing a cloud of crap my way , I might consider bugging out . It would depend on how far away the thing happened and if I thought there was time to get through the traffic jambs. If I did bug out , where I would go depends on which direction the stuff was coming from. If it was south or west of me I'd head up to Maine , I could get pretty far north on a tank of gas. Depending on the situation I might try to make it to Canada. If something happened to the north I would head down the east coast. In either case , if I stayed home or bugged out , I would try to keep a low profile and not trust anyone. I think if things got bad even a freind or neighbor you thought you could trust would turn on you to save his own skin.