Hurricane drill - What can you pack in an hour?

Seems like a good time to practice, so here's your test for the weekend.
Assuming a large event and you have to bug out; either do an actual test packing a bag or just write down what you would take...limit is one hour

Teacher

PS No we're fine. Not a lot of hurricanes in Berkley

Is this a temporary bug out or a permanent one?

Jeanette Isabelle

Given the abundant forecasting of hurricanes and their paths, why would you ever be restricted to one hour in preparing for evacuation?

We have a posted check list - people, pets, photos, important papers. We have packed for real on two occasions in far less than one hour.

My buddies and I hold packing competitions as we await hurricane's arrival. We do round robin, so one hour is the most we can spare per round.

I do so many 2-4 day roadtrips that I am permanently packed so this drill is a piece of cake. For starters, my SUV is always well-equipped with survival gear, including enough firesteels to ignite 50,000 conflagrations. My front hall closet is where I store camping gear.

In 20 minutes or so I could have bags in the car containing a week's worth of clothes, toiletries, etc. Maybe 10 minutes to put a couple bicycles on the hitch-mounted rack.

If this scenario is some horrible event that would preclude coming home for a long while and would empty out the city then I'd spend the next half-hour filling up coolers with food and beverages.

Being so prepared, I might beat my neighbors to the freeway -- where I'd sit for the next 14 hours crawling toward the Beltway and depleting my fuel tank.

Mass evac in my area is a grim prospect. It will not be quick and it would be scary.


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Dagny makes a good point about getting on the route out, then getting stuck.

Watching the most recent highway gridlock in Florida the realization I had is that it does not matter how well you are prepared, if you don't get out early then you'll be on the road with everybody else. Which means the miles you can drive on a tank of gas plummets. And as I saw on TV filling back up may be a nightmare unto itself.

Thankfully, here in northwest Arkansas, evac for a hurricane is not on our required skill set.

Bug-out early or plan to bug-in. Anyone in the hurricane's potential path who was keeping up with current events would have topped off the tank and packed their bags well ahead of the evacuation order; then you wait to see where it's really going. When the threat becomes evident, just leave -- before the evac order. Otherwise you are stuck in traffic rather than leading the first wave. Like me after a wildfire starts up to the east with a Santa Ana pushing it -- pack the truck and leave it packed, keep the fuel tank above 3/4.

The 1 hour thing is a nice academic exercise, but really unrealistic.

Avoid getting stuck in the herd. Leave early or let the herd pass (12hrs) and then fly like the wind!

Grab records binder & sling bag.
Laptop & external drive in travel bag.
Backpacking food and travel snacks from the kitchen
Handful of extra clothes from closet
Toiletries and minimal clothes are always in the car.

The list would change if the reason to bug out changed.

Temporary

great idea - checklists on paper and on your phone

We are learning to LABEL every box and have PRINTED check lists ( useful if only one person is home and packing.) Also, should pre-pack our "GO" bags.

All the priority 1 and 2 stuff on the check list:
*Kids and comfort items
*Pet and carrier
*Records and documents
*Pictures, valuables, and heirlooms.
*Computer towers
*72 hour kit

Extra clothes, food, amusement, and recreational items if time allows (priority 3 items. Non-critical items that can be purchased after I get where I'm going)

EDIT: I've found that under stress, people tend to get stupid. A paper checklist with items, locations, responsibility, and priority (1=irreplaceable needed for survival/recovery, 2=irreplaceable emotional and difficult to obtain supplies, 3=quality of life and easily obtainable after evacuation).

I like those priorities!

Does anyone else store empty bins to fill with gear in case of a sudden bug out?

Heavy duty cardboard moving boxes and packing tape from HD. I store them flat and wrapped in plastic. They're so cheap, and available that they can be treated as consumable instead of durable supplies.

I seem to have a bunch of plastic milk crates kicking around the old homestead. They are handy for a lot of things, including bugging out. A lot of my gear is more or less permanently stored in plastic bins (Action Packers are my fave) and could be transported readily. The bins are most often used in transporting gear to the location of field projects.

and big duffels. fill them quickly, sort stuff later.

0 to 10 Minutes
Each person has a "go" bag with flashlights, clothing, toiletries, rain gear, etc. always packed. This takes only the time to get it to the car.
There's also a Family Go bag (a big duffel) with other stuff (food, water, tools, batteries, radio, additional chargers/charging cables, additional toiletries, sanitation supplies, some other useful stuff). This also takes only the time required to get it to the car.
There's stuff in every car already, always - ratchet straps, flashlight and batteries, first air kits, etc.

10-30 Minutes
+meds (just sweep the whole darn shelf into a bag)
+more water (already stored in 1 gallon containers in basement)
+spackle bucket and tall kitchen trash bags. (toilet)
+laptops & chargers
+backup USB disks (there's one for everyone's computer)
+sleeping bags & pads, extra blankets.
+important documents from fire safe
+Baofeng UV-82 radio kit

30-45 Minutes
+selected photo albums/books
+selected personal memorabilia
+cats in cat carriers/cat food

45-60 Minutes
+washer fluid for car (extra gallon)
+2.5 gallon gas can (always filled with constantly rotated stock)
+battery pack (jumper box, stored on charge always)
+rope (100')
+chain saw/fuel/oil (I built a tool box that holds everything I need for a chainsaw)

This is the best info I have seen on bugging out. It is part of the site "Listening to Katrina."

Bugging Out - Theory and Practice

Thanks for the link. Very interesting read that is both detailed and also quite long (I haven't finished it yet!) but well worthwhile. A nice complement to ETS.

I have several storage bins that are always packed with my gear and food. Things are rotated out as needed. Other important things to grab would be my network storage and important papers. Also very quick grabs.

Since this is a push-come-shove situation, I could easily pack just about everything that I need. I have pared down my clothes and a lot of other things. Generally, food, meds, recharged tool batteries and the radio they fit, the dog and his food, my Bible, my tank laptop with charger, phone with charger, 2 or 3 extension cords, blankets, pillows, and lots of toilet paper and paper towels. The problem for me is that I don't have enough water. I better take care of that. Also, I need to get a new 12-volt inverter for the car. Oh, and all my mortgage paperwork and passports.

this is a good exercise if you are bored over the weekend and have an hour to practice

not necessarily on topic, but a tip from the old hands that used to use my school as a hurricane shelter..just in case you have to evacuate to a destination you don't originally plan on...

folding aluminum chaise lounge to sleep on, or sit upright to converse with others to pass time... ventilated and cool, keeps you off the ground....mosquito bar

rolling Sears plastic tool box with telescoping handle... can sit on,and offers some lockable security...., with multi day cooler bungeed on top... flip flop shower shoes so your wet feet can dry, along with nylon shorts and top... you are going to get wet

and this topic suddenly becomes relevant again.