Evacuate or Shelter-in-Place Guide

You’ll have to decide to stay or go. Authorities may give you information, orders, or not be present. Each situation can be different. In case of radiation disaster, read Nuclear Disaster Survival Guide.

Evacuate

There may be conditions under which you will decide to get away, or there may be situations when you are ordered to leave.

Plan how you will assemble your family and anticipate where you will go. Choose several destinations in different directions so you have options in an emergency.

Create An Evacuation Plan:

• Plan places where your family will meet, both within and outside of your immediate neighborhood.

• If you have a car, keep a half tank of gas in it at all times in case you need to evacuate.

• Become familiar with alternate routes and other means of transportation out of your area.

• If you do not have a car, plan how you will leave if you have to.

• Take your emergency supply kit unless you have reason to believe it has been contaminated.

• Lock the door behind you.

• Take your pets with you, but understand that only service animals may be permitted in public shelters. Plan how you will care for your pets in an emergency.If time allows:
  • Call or email the “out-of-state” contact in your family communications plan.
  • Tell them where you are going.
  • If you can, shut off gas and electricity before leaving.
  • Try to tell others when you leave where you are going.
  • Check with neighbors who may need a ride.

Shelter-in-Place

No matter where you are at the time of a disaster, there may be situations when it’s simply best to stay where you are and avoid any uncertainty outside.

Use available information to assess the situation. If you see large amounts of debris in the air, or if local authorities say the air is badly contaminated, you may want to take this kind of action.

Staying Put

There are other circumstances when staying put and creating a barrier between yourself and potentially contaminated air outside, a process known as “sealing the room,” is a matter of survival.

The process used to seal the room is considered a temporary protective measure to create a barrier between you and potentially contaminated air outside. It is a type of sheltering in place that requires preplanning.

• Bring your family and pets inside.

• Lock doors, close windows, air vents and fireplace dampers.

• Turn off fans, air conditioning and forced air heating systems.

• Take your emergency supply kit unless you have reason to believe it has been contaminated.

• Go into an interior room with few windows, if possible.

• Seal all windows, doors and air vents with plastic sheeting and duct tape. (Consider measuring and cutting the sheeting in advance to save time.)

• Be prepared to improvise and use what you have on hand to seal gaps so that you create a barrier between yourself and any contamination.

• Local authorities may not immediately be able to provide information on what is happening and what you should do. However, you should watch TV, listen to the radio or check the Internet often for official news and instructions as they become available.

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Check out all of our Guides:

Basic Disaster Survival Guide (includes lists)

Bio and Chemical Hazard Survival Guide

Disaster Preparedness Guide

Earthquake Survival Guide

Evacuate or Shelter-in-Place Guide (this one)

Hurricane and Tornado Survival Guide

Nuclear Disaster Survival Guide

Volcano Survival Guide

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