Wildman, keep in mind that flood waters, especially flash-flood waters, rise quickly. Even more so I would assume if something like a levee breaks. That's a lot of water that has to go somewhere. Also make sure your escape route doesn't end up taking you through an area that will be under water during a major flood. Our area experienced a major flood last year and a second minor flood a month later. Our house sits on high ground so we tend to bug in, but what really made me think was the fact that during the major flood, the road (the ONLY road) that we could use to bug out if something unexpected had happened was under water at either end. Even if we had needed to bug out in a vehicle we couldn't. Fortunately the water crested well before reaching even the foundation of our home and nothing else unexpected happened but it really made me think about our flood contingency plans. Can we afford to bug in the next time? What if DS, DW or myself had been badly injured? Or got really sick? A lot of what ifs and no easy answers.

Many people make the mistake of assuming the water simply rises during a flood. Don't forget there is a lot of force driving the water (with the possible exception of overflow or backwash areas, parts of what is sometimes referred to as the flood fringe) and, as someone mentioned, a lot of debris, especially in the stream channel and the areas of the floodway immediately adjacent to it. The force of the moving water and the debris usually preclude the use of boats other than in the flood fringe areas.

In my area and some others, there is also a danger of mudslides. During the minor flood I mentioned above a major mudslide just above the house blocked the road for several hours. Most of the time these slides cannot be anticipated, complicating the "when to bug in or bug out" equation, and certainly the floodcon checklist. Hopefully your area is not prone to mudslides, Wildman. Hope this helps.

edit: (Response to harstad) That would be the FEMA website here:

http://www.fema.gov/index.shtm