Requirements of an Evacuation Plan

Be Informed

• Start with a list of reasons to evacuate. Determining what might require an evacuation is obvious in many cases--fire, hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods and mud slides are often mentioned. Toxic chemical leaks, violence, civil disturbances or other types of emergencies managed by local authorities are also cause for evacuation. Know what reasons evacuations might take place in the surrounding area, and begin to prepare for these. The American Red Cross offers courses on preparing and getting trained for evacuation and emergencies.

Plan Evacuation Routes

• Contact the city or county emergency management office for information on evacuating locally. Most cities, counties and states have planned routes for leaving a city and designated evacuation centers that are used during emergencies. Planning evacuations from a home or building require a clean path and understanding of the exits throughout the structure. Place signs to mark all exits and pathways and create a map using a building floor plan to identify safe ways from the structure. Post the maps for quick review and reference.

Gather Equipment

• The need to evacuate can happen in a matter of minutes. Stop now and decide what will be needed--area maps, personal records, phone numbers and precious photos. Spend time gathering these items together in a central location so they can be reached for quickly. The Office of Homeland Security recommends writing down a list of high priority items that would be important to leave with if you only have 10 minutes to evacuate.

Choose to Meet

• Even with careful planning, separation from loved ones is a possibility. Choose a meeting place away from the area, depending upon each possible scenario. For instance, a toxic leak may send everyone north, but a bad storm could send evacuations south. Select a spot away from the problem area for each type of emergency. Additionally, choose someone as the contact person, preferably a person outside the area, that everyone should check-in with. The National Association of Realtors recommends designating a communications commander to handle the relay of calls. They also suggest labeling all emergency contact numbers as ICE in cell phones (ICE stands for "in case of emergency") so that emergency responders can find the numbers quickly if necessary.