As preppers, the idea of evacuating, or as we call it – “bugging out,” is one that we have an easy familiarity with. We build bug out bags, “ooh” and “aah” at pictures of different preppers’ ideas about the perfect bug out vehicle and act like we’re all ready, should it become necessary to leave our homes and head for the hills. But I have to ask myself just how ready we are.
When I talk to other preppers, very few of them have an actual survival retreat to go to, should they be forced to bug out. Many have the idea of just heading out into the forest and setting up camp. They’ll supposedly build a log cabin with the hatchet and wire saw in their bug out bag and spend the rest of their lives living off the land.
There are a number of problems with this scenario, starting with the idea that bugging out means bugging out forever. We all tend to be a bit focused on TEOTWAWKI events, forgetting at times that there are smaller disasters which can force us to leave our home; things like Hurricane Milton.
Milton was so serious that over 50 of Florida’s 67 counties were ordered to evacuate. Considering that there are about 22.2 million people living in Florida, that puts the number of people ordered to evacuate somewhere north of 15 million. There’s a huge difference between trying to bug out as part of a mass evacuation like that, as compared to trying to bug out by yourself, with your family and maybe a few friends in your survival team.
The biggest problem most of us face is not having that survival retreat. That might not be a problem if we’re heading out alone, due to some problem which doesn’t trigger a mass evacuation. But when it comes to a mass evacuation, having someplace to go is the number one priority. Not only that, but the destination you’re headed for, has to be outside the evacuation zone. For the people in Tampa, it wouldn’t have done any good to go to Orlando, which was also under the evacuation order, being in the storm track as well. They would have had to go a good 300 miles north to get to a place of safety.
Of course, just going 300 miles north may not give them a place of safety, if they are part of a 15-million-person evacuation. Even if it gets them out of the storm’s path, that probably won’t get them to any sort of shelter, as any available shelter would already be filled by those who didn’t have as far to travel.
Can You Really Get There?
The first question any of us need to ask ourselves is whether or not we can get to wherever we’re going to be evacuating to. Highways and secondary roads turn into slowly moving parking lots during these times, meaning that it takes a lot longer to get anywhere, than it normally will.
Your first consideration has to be the condition of your car. Will it make a several-hundred-mile trip, without causing you any problem? Can you count on it to not overheat? Will the battery remain strong enough to start and stop your engine, as traffic stops and goes? Are your tires good? Are belts and hoses on their last legs, or can you count on them?
On top of the condition of your car, you need to be concerned about fuel. If we’re talking a 300-mile evacuation, it would be normal to think that one tank of fuel would be enough. But that’s assuming traveling at normal speed, without stopping and starting. In reality, you’ll use at least double the amount of gas you normally would, if not more.
As we all know, gas stations start running out of fuel early on in the evacuation process. While petroleum companies work hard to bring in fuel during a general evacuation, they are limited by the number of trucks that are in the area. It takes about five semi-loads of fuel to fill the tanks in just one gas station.
Hopefully, you can get to a place of safety with two tanks worth of gasoline. So, the question becomes, where are those two tanks worth of gas going to come from? For me and my family, I try to ensure that I always have that much gas on hand. We fill our vehicles’ tanks when they get to the halfway point and we have enough gas in cans to provide another complete filling. Before leaving the house, we’ll siphon gas from the vehicles we’re leaving behind, ensuring that we have as much as possible for the vehicle that we’re taking with us. Since each tank is at least half full, we’re sure to have more than we can use.
Shelter is Key
While transportation is an important aspect in bugging out, shelter is key, especially in a mass evacuation. We’ve all heard stores of hotels and motels jacking up their rates to the extreme, taking advantage of the opportunity to make a buck… or a hundred. Several states have passed laws against that; but without anyone enforcing those laws, they may as well not exist.
But even with hotel prices running three to four times what they normally do, you can be sure that those hotels will fill up quickly. Anyone who is not in the bow wave of evacuees is either going to have to go further to find shelter or have an alternate plan.
So, just what alternate plans can we use, if we don’t already have a prepared survival shelter?
Red Cross or FEMA Shelters
It has become quite apparent that the government expects everyone to calmly put themselves under the government’s control, by going to a FEMA camp. Of course, FEMA isn’t in all that much of a hurry to establish those camps, so it’s hard to say what to do in the meantime. The American Red Cross is considerably faster at getting their shelters set up. Even so, make sure you leave your guns at home or at least lock them in the car. You can’t take weapons into a Red Cross shelter, any more than you can one of FEMA’s.
Although I’ve mentioned this first, it’s the last choice as far as I’m concerned. There’s no way I want to put my family in the hands of the people running these shelters, or to trust the other people who are staying in them. I’d rather sleep in the car.
Family & Friends
A much better solution is to make an arrangement with friends or family who live outside of your area, where they won’t be impacted by the disaster. Ideally, they should be somewhere around 300 miles from your home. That should be far enough away to be outside the major damage, while still close enough to make it possible to get there.
The big advantage of using a friend or family member’s home is that they will likely be the most understanding of what you’re going through. Even if they aren’t, they’ll try to be. It might be a strain, especially if you end up having to stay for a couple of weeks; but at least you’ll be staying with someone you can trust, who cares about you.
Arranging for this in advance can also provide the opportunity to stage equipment and supplies that you might need, either at their home or if they don’t have the space, nearby their home. There are rental storage lockers everywhere, allowing you the opportunity to store whatever you need to, close to their home, at a reasonable rate.
Camping
Camping actually comes closest to what most of us think of as bugging out. But I’m not actually talking about going back in the middle of nowhere and setting up a campsite with what you can carry on your back type of camping. Rather, I’m talking in terms of camping in a campground somewhere. If a campground isn’t available, then camping alongside the road in a rest area or other convenient location.
I lived in a motorhome for nine years, traveling back and forth across the country. I wish I still had that motorhome, to use as an emergency bug out vehicle/survival retreat. While it was quite a gas hog, it would provide me with a place to stay, wherever I go. In other words, I wouldn’t have to worry a bit about where I was going to bug out to. I could stay in a Wal-Mart parking lot, if I needed to. I’ve spent many a night in their expansive parking lots; then woken up in the morning to go inside and buy whatever I needed for breakfast.
Granted, motorhomes are expensive, even old ones, like I had. But you can get a pretty good deal on a used travel trailer, if you take some time to look. That’s just as good, and probably better on gas mileage, assuming you have a truck or large SUV that can tow it. You would have the same ability to sleep wherever you want, as well as the ability to drop off the trailer (being sure to lock the hitch) and take off with your truck to go buy supplies.
If all else fails, you can do pretty well in a good-quality tent, assuming you spend enough to buy one that will handle the weather and take the time to pitch it properly. I’ve camped through many a storm I a tent; and while it wasn’t always enjoyable, it wasn’t all that bad either.
Pre-book a Hotel or AirBNB
The only way you can count on any sort of hotel, motel or even an AirBNB is if you pre-book it. But that may not be as easy as it seems. Keep in mind that hotels and motels typically generally over-book, expecting that not everyone will show up. That means that you need more than a reservation, if you’re planning on staying in any of those places. What you actually have to do is to not just reserve the room, but pay for the room, before you even get there. In other words, when you make contact, tell them you want the room from that very minute and give them your credit or debit card information. There’s much less chance that they’ll try and rent out a room that’s already rented.
This will work out better if you can use a privately-owned inn and develop a relationship with the innkeeper. Staying there a few weekends per year and taking the time to sit down and talk with the owner, will naturally motivate them to put you at the top of the list, when you call for a room. Offering to pay for that room, from the time of your call, will cement the deal.
A Couple of Thoughts About Packing
Regardless of where you end up going, if you are forced to evacuate, keep in mind that you will likely be there for a couple of weeks. Hopefully it won’t be that long; but flood waters can be slow to abate, making it necessary to stay longer than you might like. Be sure to pack enough clothing and other necessities to last.
Speaking of necessities, keep in mind that there will be a lot of other people who are heading to the same general area that you are. This will probably cause the local supply chain to be overwhelmed. Grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies and others will naturally run low on inventory and will probably not be able to restock quickly enough. You already have supplies in your stockpile, so be sure to take enough with you to see your family through those two weeks or more.
Stanley Van Hemert | October 22, 2024
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Please keep me informed
Ben Gass | October 22, 2024
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It’s a good piece of mind. Thank you!
radar | October 23, 2024
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Excellent article, well described; and you raised an issue that I had not considered before as a Prepper–a mass evacuation due to a weather event (but could also include a war-time event; and I’ve been in one war but not at the top command “preparation level”, but only as a grunt required to follow orders). Your article reminded me of when I lived in NE Florida, about a dozen feet above sea level. I vaguely recall my first hurricane. I was about 25 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. I became very lethargic during the hurricane’s approach and arrival that lasted two to three days. My whole body felt like it was in a state of depression (the mental health type of depression) that I have rarely, if ever, had. I credited that feeling to the very low air pressure that continues to drop lower as it moves closer and closer until it is right on top of you. I have no idea if others who have endured a hurricane have felt or sensed that depressive effect. But if plenty of people have felt it—then, hurricanes will slow down body reactions, exercise, energy…. all which are on the list of what Preppers know they need to prepare for. If it will take twice as long to get on the road, due to the weight of dread-like feelings, then one has to leave much earlier.
Like many people I have a two garage. But as my kids have left home and have their own cars, I’m thinking that one of those two cars needs to be designated as the bug-out-vehicle (and be fully packed), and not just a “mom’s or dad’s car”. It would be my designated Prepper-Car. Now this brings another memory to mind about a different group of Preppers in the 1930s.
In a different State I had a relative that I visited several times who bought a 1930s era USA, Chicago-Gangster’s “castle-like” home on a lake. What made the home castle-like was that both the home and detached garage that held four cars (and had garage doors on both ends) had multiple observation parapets (a decorative feature of those times) on top of their roofs, so that “watchmen guards” could surveille who was coming, how many cars, and how fast they were driving, so that a warning could be sent to the main house that had under its large dining room table a hatch door in the floor, under a carpet, that opened to a dirt ground-space under the house, that led to a one-time-tunnel (but it was filled in when I inspected it), that led to a boat house on the lake that held four speed-boats, where the gang would speed off across the lake to a home on the other side that had escape cars to the countryside. I was not a Prepper when I visited that home. But now in hindsight, their Prepping Plan was extensive and it involved a series of “legs” (a navigation term that means phases of an escape, or pursuit): Home defense, tunnels to boat house, then crossing a lake to another home or garage facility with additional cars that probably would entail different cars driving out in different directions “just like the locals”, then meeting up at a third house or barn, whatever. Yes, their business was lucrative, so they could afford it. But many people today have achieved the ability to afford whatever they want, but are one’s preparations sound and logical? Is every step of it thoroughly thought through? I never considered a mass evacuation; nor have I ever been a criminal to have that deep sense of all the details that are required to maintain “a readiness state” to make a hassle-free getaway. I do remember being about six years old and realizing I needed to make a getaway, so I saw a fat-tree trunk to run behind, never realizing that I might need a way to escape that hiding spot for another one.