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D ISASTER P REPARATION • N OV . 2, 2016
Evacuation and escape
here is a concept among prep-
pers known as “Bugging Out.”
Today’s preppers use the term to
describe an evacuation process to be
executed when the current abode
becomes too dangerous to stay put or
uninhabitable.
The likelihood of evacuation in our
area is due to the threat of seasonal
storms, flooding, wildfires on forest-
land and the dreaded “Big One” — the
large-scale earthquake that could cause
a tsunami along the entire Pacific Coast.
Preparation plans should include how
to get your family and supplies out of
town on short notice. Or as preppers
say, “Out of Dodge.”
Living in rural Oregon, there are sev-
eral things to your advantage. The rela-
tively sparse population is far more
self-sufficient and more good-neighbor
minded than big city folks.
What do you do if your neighborhood
is being evacuated? You have two hours
to gather your things and go to a safer
location. On the coast, that means high
ground out of the tsunami zones. There
are several community meeting sites,
such as Florence Events Center, 715
Quince St., but know the site closest to
you. Resources are available at
www.wleog.org.
Don’t panic about where you should
go, or who packs what. Panic can set in
if you do not have a plan in place. So
gather your household and hand them
each their “but out” assignments —
decided on ahead of time when you
determine an evacuation route, likely by
foot. With the evacuation underway,
you and your loved ones will make an
T
orderly retreat to your gathering place.
The experts tell us there are three lev-
els of evacuation:
Level 1: Be ready.
Residents are encouraged to move
livestock and pets out of the area.
Evacuation is voluntary at this point.
Level 2: Residents are ordered to
leave soon.
Roads are usually closed and entry to
evacuated areas may be denied.
Residents may have time to gather nec-
essary items, but will do so at their own
risk.
Level 3: Go now.
This is an order to leave immediately,
that imminent danger exists and there is
no time to gather personal belongings.
Some evacuations are handled by
giving the residents a sheet of paper
containing some instructions. This can
include the five “P’s” — People and
Pets (and other livestock), Papers
(important documents), Prescriptions,
including hearing aids, eyeglasses and
medications, Photographs, so your
memories are preserved, and last is your
Personal Computer. There is often
invaluable, irreplaceable data on your
hard drive.
Of course, having a complete 72-hour
kit at the ready is going to ease the task
of what to take. As always, having a
plan in place will eliminate a whole lot
of confusion when the time comes to
evacuate. When you have a plan, the
panic factor, not to mention the stress
on everyone, is greatly diminished.
Just keep in mind: The time to pre-
pare is now, before there is an emer-
gency.
To view tsunami
evacuation maps
and information for
your region, go to
oregongeology.org/
tsuclearinghouse/
pubs-evacbro.htm
For more information on evacuation, safe-
ty and disaster preparedness, go to:
American Red Cross:
redcross.org
City of Florence: ci.florence.or.us
Department of Geology and
Mineral Industries:
oregongeology.org
Lane County: lanecounty.org
Oregon Office of Emergency
Management: oregon.gov/oem
Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue:
svfr.org
West Lane Emergency
Operations Group: www.wleog.org
WesternLaneAmbulance.com
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