Make Sure You Have a Flooding Evacuation Plan in Place

6/8/2018 (Permalink)

In the event of a flood, do you know your evacuation routes?  How about a place to stay if you must evacuate?  Do you have pets and can they stay with you?  These are all questions we ask in the moment of crisis when we realize we must evacuate due to flooding.

The safest way to survive a flood is to evacuate the area if you are advised to leave. To ensure that you will be able to act quickly, you need to plan ahead.

Know your community’s local flood evacuation plan and identify several escape routes for your location if roads are blocked. 

If you will evacuate by car, keep your car fueled and in good condition when there is a flood risk. Keep emergency supplies and a change of clothes in your car.

If you need to relocate for an extended period of time, identify a place away from home now where you could go if you had to leave. Consider family or friends who live outside of the local area.

If you expect to go to a shelter after evacuating, download the American Red Cross Shelter Finder app. This app displays open American Red Cross shelters and provides the capacity and current population of each shelter.

Planning ahead will take some of the stress off in the event of an emergency evacuation.  And remember -TURN AROUND DON'T DROWN - never drive through flood waters.