EXCEPTIONAL FAMILY'S QUICK EVACUATION PLAN

BY LAURA GEORGE

I am looking outside the window at all the snow that is falling today, thinking about how peaceful and white it is. This is a rarity for us in north Georgia, but we all love it just the same.

This is in stark contrast to what we experienced over a month ago when we had to evacuate our home for safety from tornado weather.

It is an event my daughter (with serious immune issues) and I will not soon forget.

Any parent or guardian with a child always worries about their safety, especially during bad weather. When an evacuation is required and the child has a disability or a serious medical condition, the concerns and thoughts about how to address the situation can seem overwhelming. The key is to think logically and without panicking.

BE WEATHER AWARE

To begin with, learn to be aware of the weather. A very simple way is to have an app on your phone from a trusted source that will give you alerts. Also, reach out to your local community or county emergency management director to receive automatic alerts from their automatic weather alert messaging service. These are always free.

REVIEW THE SITUATION

I live in a modular home surrounded by trees and an electrical pole. The weather group that I work for, Georgia Storm Trooper Network ( facebook.com/groups/SGAStormTroopers), had been sharing information from the National Weather Service about the incoming bad weather. That part I'm used to, but the part that had me concerned was that across the state, they were telling everyone who lived in a mobile home or modular home to evacuate to a safer location, even in northern Georgia where my daughter and I live. For most families they will evacuate to a brick home of another family member or friend, or if they are lucky enough to live in an advanced county, they can go to a shelter. We do not have access to any of those resources. If you find yourself in a position of having to evacuate for bad weather and aren't sure where to turn, reach out to your local fire department and have them come by to do a wellness check. They can review your home for safety features based on the severity of your child's medical concerns. This could also place you easily in their view on a priority level in case bad weather comes with destruction. If you find that evacuation is necessary, start planning to pack and coordinate details now (at least 48 hours before the bad weather comes). At this point, it is easy to become overwhelmed. However, if you have done some planning ahead of time, packing will come relatively easily. What follows is my list for getting out quickly.

CREATE AN IMPORTANT PAPERS BOX

The most important paperwork you need to establish yourself back up within 24 hours are the paperwork that our lives depend on daily to exist and move forward. The most important pieces like financials, birth certificates, bills, mortgage and school records I have placed in a binder in plastic sheet protectors. Do not forget your logins, passwords and account numbers. I also have some photos, books I have written, and other important paperwork. Along with all of this, have medical documentation outlining health concerns medical professionals, and concerning allergies noted. To this day, all of the items mentioned above still mostly stay packed and I am able to pack us up completely in four hours. All boxes used were bankers' boxes which can be purchased cheaply from any home goods store and easily stacked and labeled for future use.

COMPUTER EQUIPMENT & TECHNOLOGY

In this box, I put all laptops, iPads, games, batteries, wires and other technology accessories. Here is where you can also add extra batteries and power cords for any durable medical equipment your child might use. The laptops hold your child's medical concerns, your financials, and ability to re-create yourself. Make sure you bring your back-up drive in case something happens with the computer. This also allows for you to get additional power so when you meet with first responders, or you need supporting documentation for your child, you have access to the information on the spot.

MEDICAL

In this box, place at least seven days of medical hardware, software supplies, medication and any other items your child might need on a daily basis. In here you may also have a book started with all the medical vendors, professionals, and therapy professionals, along with account information to have on hand. Include spinal cord rod cards, serial numbers for power chairs, hearing aids, and other equipment. Depending on the seriousness of your child's medical needs you may also want to touch back with your family doctor and local hospital. In some states such as Florida, when a hurricane warning is issued, traditional medication refill rules are relaxed to allow for immediate refills that allow you to have enough spare medication on hand (in case traditional transportation modes and roads are interrupted as a result of the bad weather).

FOOD

Pack enough food to survive for a week. For my daughter with autoimmune issues, this meant boxed milk, water, snacks, and any other portable shelf stable food that is safe for her to eat. With children who use special feeding formulas, use double the amount of freezer packs, newspaper, and cloths to keep them cool and slow down the escape of the refrigerated air needed to keep them safe. Do not forget about your service dog and any life supporting food/drink items that might be needed, along with appropriate paperwork with information that could help your child live. Remember if something happens to your child, that dog or any sewn- in tags may be the only manner in which information can be relayed about their needs. Still consider the service dog as a "communicator" for the child; it may also be the one to comfort the child while, at the same time, serving to carry the identifying paperwork.

HOUSE KIT/FIRST AID KIT

If you have never considered taking a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) course, I'd highly recommend doing so. Think of it as a basic "how-to" take care of your home course where you learn how to shut off the gas, turn off the water, operate a fire extinguisher, and a few more items. Those can be goggles, blankets, tools and helmets for every family member to protect them from a tornado. Even if you don't decide to stay on the team, having the first-hand knowledge of how to operate those items and use them can prove to be very valuable after a disaster and in making sure your child is safe. Contact your local fire department to learn more about the classes and the life-saving skills that it offers. Remember to pack your basic first-aid kit too. You can make one with band-aids and antiseptic or you can buy a cheap kit from your local drug store.

AFTER ACTION PLAN 

Take a few minutes and establish a plan in case the home is destroyed, or the ability to safely return to it due to excessive damage makes it not available to live in. Turning on the "share location" feature on the cell phone is one way that family and friends can track you easily and send first responders should emergency services be needed. Have people in your plan who can calmly listen, share information, and be ready to act on your behalf. Consider the trees and other items outside around the home and what might happen if they are delayed in falling due to the ground being soaked with moisture or flooding. Most important of all, pre-identify a back-up living situation and make sure the permissions are current to stay there each year. 

What I remember most from that event was that I had to be able to take the things that would allow us to continue living were we to lose everything, including our home, from the tornados. It was important to take things that would help us live, like things for my daughter's medical concerns, paperwork to re-establish ourselves on paper. The memories had to be left behind because I could only take what would fit in our car and those are the things that would allow us to live. In addition to all that I mentioned above, I packed up a few important memories along with clothing, bedding, and comfort items for my child and dog. 

Our evacuation plan was to go to an AirBnB that was a sturdy brick home. When the height of the storm was hitting, we heard the winds, the rain, and hail. I watched as the Storm Troopers shared the warnings, graphics and alerts. It was important to keep busy. My daughter spent the night playing with the dog and her software games. The following morning, I went outside to see how we survived. The only item that I saw was a screen partially taken off from a window. I spent the next three hours cleaning up after ourselves and repacking our car to go home.

Yes, no one wants to ever evacuate their home, presume that they will lose everything and plan on that. But I am glad that I did. Had we lost everything, the knowledge in the situation was that the worst-case scenario had been planned for. Even with my child's serious autoimmune issues, there were already back-up food and medical plans in place. Keeping a level head in a chaotic situation is the best tool anyone can have in their evacuation kit. I hope you never have to evacuate. I hope you never have to plan to lose everything you own. But if you do, I hope sharing my experience of evacuating will provide you with some comfort and knowledge on how to be safe when evacuating. Be prepared! Be alert! Be safe! •

P.S. The Storm Trooper Network ( gastormtroopers.com) has been around for several years. Now they are expanded into other states such as Kansas, Alabama, and Florida, to name just a few of them. They work directly with the National Weather Service and I am currently helping them to be Deaf/Hard of Hearing-friendly and Blind/Low vision-friendly. Being associated with this organization and seeing the great lengths they are going to make sure everyone has access to weather information, is very much appreciated.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Laura George is an Emergency Management Disability Liaison and sits on the National Center for Independent Living Emergency Preparedness Committee [ NCIL.org] as well as other national, state, and local committees. This past year she has assisted with flood, hurricane and tornado disasters spanning from Colorado to Texas to North Carolina and the Bahamas. She has spent the last 13 years volunteering her time, consulting, presenting and writing on the idea that emergency design needs to include everyone. She is the author of Emergency Preparedness Plan: A Workbook for Caregivers, People with Disabilities, the Elderly and Others. In her spare time, she shares smiles with her daughter who has PANS & Immune Issues and dog (assistant), Turkey.