you gotta read this one: firsthand bugout account from Katrina, over at survivalblog
- Thread starter lynnie
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Barry Natchitoches
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Hurricane Katrina -- A First Hand Bugout Account from August 2005 (SAs: Disaster Preparedness, Lessons from Katrina, Fuel Storage)
The following anonymously-posted account is re-posted with permission from Mel's Riser's "My Solar Village" blog (http://mysolarvillage.blogspot.com.) Some of you might find this account is eerily reminiscent of my novel Patriots:
The craziest thing about the whole Katrina fiasco was that my father in law (technically he's just my girlfriend's dad, but we've been together long enough that this is what we call him.) I always make fun of him because he keeps his garage stocked with something like 100 gallons of water, a bunch of big jugs full of treated gasoline, food, etc. He also owns quite a few guns. So I picked on him a lot for being borderline nuts even though he's fairly normal.
So when Katrina rolled around I ended up evacuating with them since the woman wanted to be with her parents. It took us 35 hours of nonstop driving to drive to Dallas. It's usually a four hour drive or so. About twelve hours or so in you had to drive around a car that had run out of fuel every fifty feet or less. They were everywhere. It was hot, too, and we saw hundreds of families standing on the side of the road sweating. A lot had infants and little kids.
Even if you somehow did find a gas station that wasn't sold out of gasoline (probably 9 out of 10 were sold out) the line was literally miles long. About 20 hours in, or a little over halfway to Dallas, we noticed the convenience stores were being looted. The people busted out the windows (we didn't see who, but they were busted out) and we saw people coming out with any drink they could find. It was pretty much chaos. There was one cop on the scene and he wouldn't get out of his car. He just sat across his street with his lights swirling and people ignored him.
By this time there were so many cars broken down that we spent a lot of our time driving off road. We had a big tarp on the back of the truck with all the gasoline but we were forced to fuel up in front of people. We had enough fuel to fill up our two vehicles three times which turned out to be just enough to get us to Dallas. As we were fueling up crowds of not-so-nice looking folks with empty gas tanks were staring us down. We gave one guy five gallons of fuel because he had two little kids.
We were approached the second time we fueled up on the side of the road by a pissed-off bunch of people asking for gas. We told them we needed it. They didn't care obviously. One younger guy went towards the back of the truck and said something like "I'm taking one, call the f**king police if you want." and my father in law had to use his pistol to convince the guy otherwise. We were then standing there, funnel in the truck, me trying to pour gas in, him with a pistol in his hand, my girlfriend and her mom crying, and all of the gas-thief's buddies looking real tough. He just stood there like some sort of tough-guy a**hole. I got the cap back on the jug and we got out of there with our nerves really frazzled.
I kept my pistol loaded after that.
We went through a LOT of water. It was really pretty hot out there. I slept in little two or three minute bursts when traffic was stopped which it almost always was. Sit for a few minutes, move ten feet. Repeat a thousand f**king times. My leg actually cramped up from break/accelerate/breaking so many times and I had to pull over. This happened to pretty much all of us. It sounds melodramatic but driving actually f**king hurt at that point.
To save on fuel I didn't run my air conditioner so I was also sweating the whole time but we thankfully had a lot of water.
At close to 30 hours people got fed up with the traffic and we started seeing cars zipping past us on the southbound side of the freeway, heading north the wrong way. There were still quite a few emergency vehicles heading south so this was a dangerous idea. It didn't take long until hundreds of people switched to the other lane and headed northbound on it.
A half mile or so up we saw the first head on collision. A family headed north had struck a police cruiser heading south at the crest of a hill. They'd never seen each other until the last second, I guess. We saw a lot of these accidents. The swarm beat the police,though, and we were out in nowhere, Texas anyway so there probably weren't that many police to respond. Eventually the entire southbound lane was just as clogged as the northbound. More so, really, because there were the head-on accidents.
The police couldn't go south or north now so it was a kind of weird feeling of being on your own. So many people were broken down now that you had to swerve not to just hit the people who were out lingering. They had nowhere to go.
Our big tarp-covered pickup drew a lot of eyes, too. We again had to fill up in front of hundreds of people. He again had to use his pistol as a friendly reminder that we didn't wish to be robbed. He never actually pointed it at anybody, he just took it out and held it as a reminder. People just stared at us with hate. I can't blame them, I guess. But he was watching out for his wife and daughter and I was watching out for her as well. Most people would do the same.
The following anonymously-posted account is re-posted with permission from Mel's Riser's "My Solar Village" blog (http://mysolarvillage.blogspot.com.) Some of you might find this account is eerily reminiscent of my novel Patriots:
The craziest thing about the whole Katrina fiasco was that my father in law (technically he's just my girlfriend's dad, but we've been together long enough that this is what we call him.) I always make fun of him because he keeps his garage stocked with something like 100 gallons of water, a bunch of big jugs full of treated gasoline, food, etc. He also owns quite a few guns. So I picked on him a lot for being borderline nuts even though he's fairly normal.
So when Katrina rolled around I ended up evacuating with them since the woman wanted to be with her parents. It took us 35 hours of nonstop driving to drive to Dallas. It's usually a four hour drive or so. About twelve hours or so in you had to drive around a car that had run out of fuel every fifty feet or less. They were everywhere. It was hot, too, and we saw hundreds of families standing on the side of the road sweating. A lot had infants and little kids.
Even if you somehow did find a gas station that wasn't sold out of gasoline (probably 9 out of 10 were sold out) the line was literally miles long. About 20 hours in, or a little over halfway to Dallas, we noticed the convenience stores were being looted. The people busted out the windows (we didn't see who, but they were busted out) and we saw people coming out with any drink they could find. It was pretty much chaos. There was one cop on the scene and he wouldn't get out of his car. He just sat across his street with his lights swirling and people ignored him.
By this time there were so many cars broken down that we spent a lot of our time driving off road. We had a big tarp on the back of the truck with all the gasoline but we were forced to fuel up in front of people. We had enough fuel to fill up our two vehicles three times which turned out to be just enough to get us to Dallas. As we were fueling up crowds of not-so-nice looking folks with empty gas tanks were staring us down. We gave one guy five gallons of fuel because he had two little kids.
We were approached the second time we fueled up on the side of the road by a pissed-off bunch of people asking for gas. We told them we needed it. They didn't care obviously. One younger guy went towards the back of the truck and said something like "I'm taking one, call the f**king police if you want." and my father in law had to use his pistol to convince the guy otherwise. We were then standing there, funnel in the truck, me trying to pour gas in, him with a pistol in his hand, my girlfriend and her mom crying, and all of the gas-thief's buddies looking real tough. He just stood there like some sort of tough-guy a**hole. I got the cap back on the jug and we got out of there with our nerves really frazzled.
I kept my pistol loaded after that.
We went through a LOT of water. It was really pretty hot out there. I slept in little two or three minute bursts when traffic was stopped which it almost always was. Sit for a few minutes, move ten feet. Repeat a thousand f**king times. My leg actually cramped up from break/accelerate/breaking so many times and I had to pull over. This happened to pretty much all of us. It sounds melodramatic but driving actually f**king hurt at that point.
To save on fuel I didn't run my air conditioner so I was also sweating the whole time but we thankfully had a lot of water.
At close to 30 hours people got fed up with the traffic and we started seeing cars zipping past us on the southbound side of the freeway, heading north the wrong way. There were still quite a few emergency vehicles heading south so this was a dangerous idea. It didn't take long until hundreds of people switched to the other lane and headed northbound on it.
A half mile or so up we saw the first head on collision. A family headed north had struck a police cruiser heading south at the crest of a hill. They'd never seen each other until the last second, I guess. We saw a lot of these accidents. The swarm beat the police,though, and we were out in nowhere, Texas anyway so there probably weren't that many police to respond. Eventually the entire southbound lane was just as clogged as the northbound. More so, really, because there were the head-on accidents.
The police couldn't go south or north now so it was a kind of weird feeling of being on your own. So many people were broken down now that you had to swerve not to just hit the people who were out lingering. They had nowhere to go.
Our big tarp-covered pickup drew a lot of eyes, too. We again had to fill up in front of hundreds of people. He again had to use his pistol as a friendly reminder that we didn't wish to be robbed. He never actually pointed it at anybody, he just took it out and held it as a reminder. People just stared at us with hate. I can't blame them, I guess. But he was watching out for his wife and daughter and I was watching out for her as well. Most people would do the same.
Truthsearch
Doom is ALWAYS 6 Months Away...
wow
data junkie
Membership Revoked
yep...not pretty
I kept my pistol loaded after that.
He again had to use his pistol as a friendly reminder that we didn't wish to be robbed. He never actually pointed it at anybody, he just took it out and held it as a reminder.
It's clear that a loaded gun is necessary in any Bug-out situation to cover those in the caravan from being attacked, swamped, and then looted. Perhaps a carbine, shotgun, AR type or battle rifle would be better.
Grantbo
He again had to use his pistol as a friendly reminder that we didn't wish to be robbed. He never actually pointed it at anybody, he just took it out and held it as a reminder.
It's clear that a loaded gun is necessary in any Bug-out situation to cover those in the caravan from being attacked, swamped, and then looted. Perhaps a carbine, shotgun, AR type or battle rifle would be better.
Grantbo
darkdakota
Membership Revoked
A Dick Cheney Bird Shooter would be perfect for the first shot. Followed up by something with hollow points in it.
Dark
Dark
gillmanNSF
Veteran Member
Reminds me of the scene in the new War of the Worlds movie where Cruise's character gets robbed of his transportation by a pistol-wielding man, who then gets shot by someone else with a gun. It really emphasized the need to have someone to cover your back and also to ride shotgun (for real). This article has really made me rethink my bright blue tarp-covered preps in the back of my pick-up idea. Better to get a camper cover with tinted windows for over the bed. I was thinking, too, about getting a second fuel tank installed in my truck, but I don't know where I'd go to do something like that.
I guess a taser or mace wouldn't have made for a good deterrent in the situations described in this blog. I got a lot of rethinking to do.
I guess a taser or mace wouldn't have made for a good deterrent in the situations described in this blog. I got a lot of rethinking to do.
Doc1
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Do it right
Some of you may recall our Katrina evac and subsequent adventures. Our experiences were, ah, rather different (and virtually problem-free). The FIL in this story was obviously something of a prepper and did some things right. He did a couple wrong though, which caused most of the family's grief. FWIW, here's my advice...based on many years of evacuations.
1.) Leave early. Katrina hit Monday morning. Most people who evacuated left on Sunday. We left on Saturday. Though we are very near the Coast and tidal water, I have a cousin who owns a farm 50 miles farther north. Our usual procedure is to evacuate to the farm and monitor the situation from there. This gets us out of immediate harm and keeps us away from coastal traffic, should we decide - as we did in Katrina - to move farther north. Part and parcel of leaving early is to be ready to leave early! We keep the Bug Out Bus well stocked and spent the latter part of the week loading additional essentials and personal items. This takes longer than you would imagine. A lot of people in New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast area only decided to evacuate on Sunday and THEN had to pack up. This ensured that they were stuck in gridlock...
Leaving early also gives you time to better deal with breakdowns or other contingencies.
2.) Carry your own fuel. The FIL in this story did that and it proved to be a lifesaver. I would add that if at all possible, you should sell your gasoline vehicles and buy diesels. The family in this story was threatened by would-be thieves for their gasoline several times. Diesel is absolutely useless to gasoline vehicle's driver. Additionally, it is much, much safer to carry and has far better storage qualities than gasoline. From a prepper's perspective, there are a lot of other reasons to go with diesel that I won't address here, but I will observe that in Katrina's aftermath, diesel was fairly easy to come by while gas vehicles sat in endless fuel lines.
3.) Take the road less travelled: Do a map recce for alternative routes well in advance of need and maybe do a little Sunday driving to personally inspect possible routes. Put emphasis on lesser-travelled US and state highways and even county roads. Bring your maps with you and be sure to have two or three alternatives to your alternative. One stretch of our usual bug out route is on a little-used two lane highway that runs parallell to a major interstate. In some areas, you can see the interstate from this highway and it's not uncommon to see bumper-to-bumper traffic there, while "our" little road is nearly traffic-free. There is another advantage to taking the lesser roads in an evacuation: People are friendlier! You aren't a member of the threatening hordes - as you get further away from the mass exodus - but are something of a novelty. Most people are much more inclined to offer assistance if you're not part of a mob - even if only by association or proximity - vandalizing property and stripping an area of resources. In a related vein, consider going the wrong way! In our case, by conventional standards, the "best" route is for us to head west in the face of an approaching 'cane. Admittedly, this would get us out of the path of the storm quicker, but we NEVER, EVER go west! Going west from our Mississippi location would mean that we'd have to negotiate the New Orleans and Baton Rouge metro areas and possibly wind up in that crush of escaping humanity. We go due north initially and then decide, based on the storm's track, where to proceed after we're far off the Coast.
4.) Find a remote destination (or several). We keep a list of all state and county parks in our proposed evacuation direction, with addresses and phone numbers. Additionally, we have maps of these sites. Very few people think to use these facilities. We find that they're rarely crowded, even during mass evacs. Additionally, keep the names and numbers of friends who can be relied on in the direction you're travelling.
I hope this helps some of you.
Best regards
Doc
Some of you may recall our Katrina evac and subsequent adventures. Our experiences were, ah, rather different (and virtually problem-free). The FIL in this story was obviously something of a prepper and did some things right. He did a couple wrong though, which caused most of the family's grief. FWIW, here's my advice...based on many years of evacuations.
1.) Leave early. Katrina hit Monday morning. Most people who evacuated left on Sunday. We left on Saturday. Though we are very near the Coast and tidal water, I have a cousin who owns a farm 50 miles farther north. Our usual procedure is to evacuate to the farm and monitor the situation from there. This gets us out of immediate harm and keeps us away from coastal traffic, should we decide - as we did in Katrina - to move farther north. Part and parcel of leaving early is to be ready to leave early! We keep the Bug Out Bus well stocked and spent the latter part of the week loading additional essentials and personal items. This takes longer than you would imagine. A lot of people in New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast area only decided to evacuate on Sunday and THEN had to pack up. This ensured that they were stuck in gridlock...
Leaving early also gives you time to better deal with breakdowns or other contingencies.
2.) Carry your own fuel. The FIL in this story did that and it proved to be a lifesaver. I would add that if at all possible, you should sell your gasoline vehicles and buy diesels. The family in this story was threatened by would-be thieves for their gasoline several times. Diesel is absolutely useless to gasoline vehicle's driver. Additionally, it is much, much safer to carry and has far better storage qualities than gasoline. From a prepper's perspective, there are a lot of other reasons to go with diesel that I won't address here, but I will observe that in Katrina's aftermath, diesel was fairly easy to come by while gas vehicles sat in endless fuel lines.
3.) Take the road less travelled: Do a map recce for alternative routes well in advance of need and maybe do a little Sunday driving to personally inspect possible routes. Put emphasis on lesser-travelled US and state highways and even county roads. Bring your maps with you and be sure to have two or three alternatives to your alternative. One stretch of our usual bug out route is on a little-used two lane highway that runs parallell to a major interstate. In some areas, you can see the interstate from this highway and it's not uncommon to see bumper-to-bumper traffic there, while "our" little road is nearly traffic-free. There is another advantage to taking the lesser roads in an evacuation: People are friendlier! You aren't a member of the threatening hordes - as you get further away from the mass exodus - but are something of a novelty. Most people are much more inclined to offer assistance if you're not part of a mob - even if only by association or proximity - vandalizing property and stripping an area of resources. In a related vein, consider going the wrong way! In our case, by conventional standards, the "best" route is for us to head west in the face of an approaching 'cane. Admittedly, this would get us out of the path of the storm quicker, but we NEVER, EVER go west! Going west from our Mississippi location would mean that we'd have to negotiate the New Orleans and Baton Rouge metro areas and possibly wind up in that crush of escaping humanity. We go due north initially and then decide, based on the storm's track, where to proceed after we're far off the Coast.
4.) Find a remote destination (or several). We keep a list of all state and county parks in our proposed evacuation direction, with addresses and phone numbers. Additionally, we have maps of these sites. Very few people think to use these facilities. We find that they're rarely crowded, even during mass evacs. Additionally, keep the names and numbers of friends who can be relied on in the direction you're travelling.
I hope this helps some of you.
Best regards
Doc
BaywaterRoss
Inactive
It's always interesting to see these evac threads.
You virtually never read a thread that goes something like this...
"We saw on the news that the storm was clearly going to hit somewhere near us, so 2 or 3 days before landfall, we headed to a friends house and had absolutely no problems. We didn't have to pull a gun on a single soul. Instead we watched it all on tv and had a hurricane party."
Like Doc1 said, if you wait too long, you have greater opportunity to get into trouble. Being prepared means using your head, not necessarily waiting till the last minute and then using a gun to hold off the hordes.
Here in the Tampa bay area, the rule of thumb is to evacuate to higher ground no more than five miles away. Evacuation is to escape flooding, not wind. As we know, flooding from hurricanes kills far more people than the wind does. Running 100 miles does not make us safer than going 5 miles.
I evacuated with the storms of 2004. In 2005 I moved to higher ground and no longer have to evacuate at all.
You virtually never read a thread that goes something like this...
"We saw on the news that the storm was clearly going to hit somewhere near us, so 2 or 3 days before landfall, we headed to a friends house and had absolutely no problems. We didn't have to pull a gun on a single soul. Instead we watched it all on tv and had a hurricane party."
Like Doc1 said, if you wait too long, you have greater opportunity to get into trouble. Being prepared means using your head, not necessarily waiting till the last minute and then using a gun to hold off the hordes.
Here in the Tampa bay area, the rule of thumb is to evacuate to higher ground no more than five miles away. Evacuation is to escape flooding, not wind. As we know, flooding from hurricanes kills far more people than the wind does. Running 100 miles does not make us safer than going 5 miles.
I evacuated with the storms of 2004. In 2005 I moved to higher ground and no longer have to evacuate at all.
Taz
Deceased
Sure makes one think it all over again, doesn't it? We have no choice but to leave early since we would be hauling our large 5th wheel. Were we to get stuck, someone could break the large bay windows on the rear of RV and loot the trailer, let the cats out, etc. OTOH, due to fifth wheel we cannot carry barrel of fuel. But we do stay topped off and fuel tanks hold 90 gallons. But the key is to definetly be ahead of the crowd. Even if you aren't prepped, if you are ahead of the crowd you can still buy fuel and food. And with the exception of Mexico and Canada, we always are armed.
Taz
Taz
BaywaterRoss
Inactive
Yep. And the author and his "FIL" may not even have been alive to tell the story at all had the hordes also been armed. Of course, those threads never get published because the would-be author is dead.SCR1 said:
Thunderbird
Veteran Member
Doc:
On your advice to sell your vehicle and buy a diesel, Diesels are not generally noted for their survival in "normal" driving situations of urban America,
IE short trips. Annother point, telling a mob you have diesel not gas may get down to proving it. A lose- lose position.
No cleal answer to this, A person on the move is basically a target and subject to conditions way beyond control of most.
On your advice to sell your vehicle and buy a diesel, Diesels are not generally noted for their survival in "normal" driving situations of urban America,
IE short trips. Annother point, telling a mob you have diesel not gas may get down to proving it. A lose- lose position.
No cleal answer to this, A person on the move is basically a target and subject to conditions way beyond control of most.
Barry Natchitoches
Has No Life - Lives on TB
BaywaterRoss said:
One very real problem with the evacuation of Hurricane Katrina -- whether you all want to recognize this reality or not -- is that in the last several years, New Orleans emptied itself out in face of oncoming hurricanes, only to have the hurricane take a last minute turn to the east and bypass New Orleans completely.
First there was hurricane Georges in 1998, then Hurricane Ivan in 2004 (I think that I got the name right). There was another hurricane in 2002 that alot of folks evacked for too, I think that was Hurricane Isidore.
The roads jammed up and turned into parking lots, people could not find motel rooms to rent northward or westward -- the same problems you saw in Texas when Rita made a run towards Houston, the same problems you read about in this thread.
Then, at the very last minute, the hurricane was a No-Show.
The same way that Rita was a No-Show to the citizens of Houston last fall after so many of them got onto the Houston Interstate Parking Lots so that they could sit in their cars in stiffling heat, with no place to go to refuel or even to pee.
So when Katrina started towards New Orleans -- taking the same path that other hurricanes that turned out to be No-Shows had taken in recent years -- people decided that, rather than evack early, they'd wait and see if this thing REALLY WAS headed towards them.
By the time it was perfectly clear that the Hurricane REALLY WAS headed towards them, well, for all practical purposes, it was already too late to get out. The interstate had turned into a hot, dangerous Parking Lot, and many people (correctly, in case of my parents, incorrectly, in the case of many Lower Ninth Ward residents) calculated that they were better off sitting in place then getting onto the crowded I-10 and I-55 Parking Lots.
Oh, yeah, Hindsight is 20-20.
NOW we know that they should have hightailed it out of there earlier. But you also have to remember that 60 hours before landfall, Katrina was only a CATEGORY ONE hurricane, and one that nobody was sure would get anywhere near New Orleans.
So given the longstanding history of hurricanes that seem to threaten New Orleans but at the last minute take a turn to the east and bypass the city (heck, even the infamous Hurricane Camille did that number), it was very difficult for anybody down there to seriously think of evacking out of the city that soon.
Even alot of you folks, who seem to enjoy putting down New Orleanians so much, would have procrastinated a bit longer under the circumstances, to see what was REALLY going to happen.
I thought y'all might enjoy reading my friend's account of his trip home during the Rita evacuation. He works in Galveston, but his home & family are up here in NE TX. At first, he thought he would be required to stay, but when it looked like Galveston would take a direct hit, he was told to go home. He left late Wednesday afternoon, & drove 12 hours on a trip that usually takes about 4 hours.
The moral of his story, is "Know the backroads".
09/22/05 11:35 AM >>>
I made it to North East Texas after 12 long hours of
driving - I was lucky to know a few back roads to get
off on to by-pass the traffic. I drove for two hours
between Livingston and Coorigan in 1st gear with my
foot off the gas petal moving with the traffic. I
think I traveled 10 to 12 miles until I got out on the
shoulder (sometimes in the ditch)and moved up to the
first road to cut across east and kept tuning north
and east and back west on back roads until I work my
way to Lufkin and hit Hwy 69. Traffic was heavy on 69
but nothing like 59 going to Arkansas. When I crossed
back over 59 at Lufkin, it was still bumper to bumper.
I have unloaded all that I could load on my truck. I
expect all that I could not bring is lost due to my
house location on the seawall. I am now repacking a
jump bag to head back with as soon as the storm
passes. I have a special papers and pass to allow me
back to help restart the **** and perform
recovery.
I left several close friends that are not leaving.
Mostly street people who are mentally ill and addicted
to drugs and alcohol. Gods troubled children. I tried
my best to get as many to buses as I could before I
evacuated. The ones remaining can not mentally
comprehend the danger. They have no buildings or
shelters to go to. Please keep these people in your
prayers.
I just heard on national weather that the storm is now
expected to become stationary for a short time over
north east texas resulting in possibly 20 to 24 inches
of rain. Hard to get out of the way of this one.
The moral of his story, is "Know the backroads".
09/22/05 11:35 AM >>>
I made it to North East Texas after 12 long hours of
driving - I was lucky to know a few back roads to get
off on to by-pass the traffic. I drove for two hours
between Livingston and Coorigan in 1st gear with my
foot off the gas petal moving with the traffic. I
think I traveled 10 to 12 miles until I got out on the
shoulder (sometimes in the ditch)and moved up to the
first road to cut across east and kept tuning north
and east and back west on back roads until I work my
way to Lufkin and hit Hwy 69. Traffic was heavy on 69
but nothing like 59 going to Arkansas. When I crossed
back over 59 at Lufkin, it was still bumper to bumper.
I have unloaded all that I could load on my truck. I
expect all that I could not bring is lost due to my
house location on the seawall. I am now repacking a
jump bag to head back with as soon as the storm
passes. I have a special papers and pass to allow me
back to help restart the **** and perform
recovery.
I left several close friends that are not leaving.
Mostly street people who are mentally ill and addicted
to drugs and alcohol. Gods troubled children. I tried
my best to get as many to buses as I could before I
evacuated. The ones remaining can not mentally
comprehend the danger. They have no buildings or
shelters to go to. Please keep these people in your
prayers.
I just heard on national weather that the storm is now
expected to become stationary for a short time over
north east texas resulting in possibly 20 to 24 inches
of rain. Hard to get out of the way of this one.
nomifyle
TB Fanatic
Knowing the back roads is essential for staying away from the traffic. For Katrina we packed on Saturday and left early Sunday morning, like 5 or 6. We took back roads all the way to north central Louisiana where we have a camper at my cousin's house. We learned from evacuating from Ivan not to leave the same day you pack because you are exhausted and get cranky. Even with a few hours sleep to be fresh worked best for us. With each evacuation we took less, so we left things we had taken in the past.
Most people I talk to only took two or three days worth of clothes because of all the near misses in the past most folks figured it would be fine when they came back home. I don't see how people could leave three or four days in advance, unless you are independently wealthy. First off with most jobs if you don't have vacation time you have to take time off without pay. If I told an employer that I was leaving three or four days in advance of a hurricane that might not come this way it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities that my job could be threathened. And then these evacuations can be expensive. My family had a place to go and food with us and food there, so we didn't have to pay for lodging or food. As for food you get sick of eating emergency food. Its not like where you evacuated was in the same boat you are in, their lives are normal. So we wanted to eat normal food and who was in the mood to cook. So we ate junk and ate out. That adds up. And you can't say you would have done this or done that because unless you are actually in the middle of it you don't have a clue.
My son's in laws went to Houston, which took much longer because they don't know the back roads and wouldn't leave the interstate. They evaucated Houston for Rita and went to Little Rock. It took them 38 hours. They were in at least two vehicles, one with an 80 year great-grandmother and one with an eight month old. I can't even begin to imagine the horror because I didn't experience it, I asked them how they managed to even stay awake all that time. They wouldn't talk about it much, it was that awful. They kept calling their motel and paying for another night just to keep their room and when they got there their room was not available. They pitched a big fit and a room was found, but it was not the quality of what they had been paying for. They lost three homes in Chalmette, two that got oil from the spill. They could not salvage anything. At least I was able to dig some things out of the muck and clean up.
Blessings,
Judy
Most people I talk to only took two or three days worth of clothes because of all the near misses in the past most folks figured it would be fine when they came back home. I don't see how people could leave three or four days in advance, unless you are independently wealthy. First off with most jobs if you don't have vacation time you have to take time off without pay. If I told an employer that I was leaving three or four days in advance of a hurricane that might not come this way it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities that my job could be threathened. And then these evacuations can be expensive. My family had a place to go and food with us and food there, so we didn't have to pay for lodging or food. As for food you get sick of eating emergency food. Its not like where you evacuated was in the same boat you are in, their lives are normal. So we wanted to eat normal food and who was in the mood to cook. So we ate junk and ate out. That adds up. And you can't say you would have done this or done that because unless you are actually in the middle of it you don't have a clue.
My son's in laws went to Houston, which took much longer because they don't know the back roads and wouldn't leave the interstate. They evaucated Houston for Rita and went to Little Rock. It took them 38 hours. They were in at least two vehicles, one with an 80 year great-grandmother and one with an eight month old. I can't even begin to imagine the horror because I didn't experience it, I asked them how they managed to even stay awake all that time. They wouldn't talk about it much, it was that awful. They kept calling their motel and paying for another night just to keep their room and when they got there their room was not available. They pitched a big fit and a room was found, but it was not the quality of what they had been paying for. They lost three homes in Chalmette, two that got oil from the spill. They could not salvage anything. At least I was able to dig some things out of the muck and clean up.
Blessings,
Judy
lessons learned
I live in Gulf Shores and was at the head of the line for Ivan;we made hotel reservations 150 miles north in Demopolis 6 days before landfall;we spent day 5 & 4 prepping the storage rooms, and outside areas of house and yard.(we're about 1.5 miles from the gulf)..we spent day 3 prepping inside of house and packing (we had to prep/pack disabled sisters house behind us as well as our own, so we had double work on covering windows/doors/prepping frig and packing for 3-5 days of meds, food, etc.)
We left the island Monday night (3 days till landfall) for daughters apartment 30 miles north ,on Mobile bay, but well away from coastal evac routes. We saw sold out gas stations, long lines, and a lot of fear on Monday night and early Tuesday morning. We left Fairhope early am Tuesday headed north on 43 and were virtually only ones on the road. Later that afternoon after mandatory evacs were in place, all the roads we had just travelled were gridlocked.
We were in our hotel in Demopolis with animals at a nearby vets by Tuesday evening; everyone was desparate trying to find rooms, animal care and Walmarts was filled with panic buying for water/staples/batteries etc.
We did Ivan right...staging our exit 1/2 to 1 day ahead of mass exodus.
We did Dennis totally wrong: left when everyone else did (1 day too early) and spent 11 hours on interstate inching to Atlanta. I also felt very sore and exhausted from driving 10-30 miles an hour bumper to bumper.
Our conclusion: either be way ahead or wait until everyone is gone (We rolled the dice with Katrina; stayed put but had reservations and could have blasted out to evacuate on the night before landfall if neccessary. Our part of the island was only area allowed to stay. It was interesting, but not too bad.
Best value: Baygen wind up radio;excellent pick up of stations;kept us well informed while power was out.
Also;ice and water saved in freezer and 55 gallon plastic barrels. Gas, food chainsaw supplies.
Best lesson learned; if in the ground zero of cone, make reservations 3 -5 days ahead and leave 1/2 day earlier than mand evac orders. If you can't leave early, wait until 80% are gone, then boogey on out!
I live in Gulf Shores and was at the head of the line for Ivan;we made hotel reservations 150 miles north in Demopolis 6 days before landfall;we spent day 5 & 4 prepping the storage rooms, and outside areas of house and yard.(we're about 1.5 miles from the gulf)..we spent day 3 prepping inside of house and packing (we had to prep/pack disabled sisters house behind us as well as our own, so we had double work on covering windows/doors/prepping frig and packing for 3-5 days of meds, food, etc.)
We left the island Monday night (3 days till landfall) for daughters apartment 30 miles north ,on Mobile bay, but well away from coastal evac routes. We saw sold out gas stations, long lines, and a lot of fear on Monday night and early Tuesday morning. We left Fairhope early am Tuesday headed north on 43 and were virtually only ones on the road. Later that afternoon after mandatory evacs were in place, all the roads we had just travelled were gridlocked.
We were in our hotel in Demopolis with animals at a nearby vets by Tuesday evening; everyone was desparate trying to find rooms, animal care and Walmarts was filled with panic buying for water/staples/batteries etc.
We did Ivan right...staging our exit 1/2 to 1 day ahead of mass exodus.
We did Dennis totally wrong: left when everyone else did (1 day too early) and spent 11 hours on interstate inching to Atlanta. I also felt very sore and exhausted from driving 10-30 miles an hour bumper to bumper.
Our conclusion: either be way ahead or wait until everyone is gone (We rolled the dice with Katrina; stayed put but had reservations and could have blasted out to evacuate on the night before landfall if neccessary. Our part of the island was only area allowed to stay. It was interesting, but not too bad.
Best value: Baygen wind up radio;excellent pick up of stations;kept us well informed while power was out.
Also;ice and water saved in freezer and 55 gallon plastic barrels. Gas, food chainsaw supplies.
Best lesson learned; if in the ground zero of cone, make reservations 3 -5 days ahead and leave 1/2 day earlier than mand evac orders. If you can't leave early, wait until 80% are gone, then boogey on out!
As has been mentioned by several people on this thread, determining when tp leave ahead of a hurricane is chancey. Getting back to your home afterwards can also be problematic.
We evacuated to Jacksonville, FL for Ivan. We left there to return about noon the day following landfall. EVERY bridge in our area was closed. We live on a peninsula and were barely able to make it home before curfew. Our home is on the east side of the bridge outages. Our son, who was traveling in another truck had to take a 60 mi detour to get to his home once he got near the county line because the I-10 bridge was out (think every one saw those pictures--tractor trailer hanging off the interstate with the cab and driver in the water) as well as the Hwy 90 causeway.
Took days for the bay bridges to reopen after being checked and some damage repaired. A lot longer for the causeway and I-10 bridges!!!!
So now, when we are planning an evacuation route we have to take into account that if we go to NW, we may not be able to get back home because of closed/damaged bridges. It is important to return as quickly as possible to asses damage and make any emergency repairs. Also for peace of mind to know whether your home remains and in what condition.
I hate the thought of the coming hurricane season. Am trying to organize my preps so that many things will be packed ahead of time--photos, some heirlooms and other precious things, etc. After evacuating once in ea of the past years, I have pruned my list of "valuables". First time, I ended up with lots of stuff I didn't need and some stuff I was horrified to have left behind. Second time, for Dennis, was better. Each time I had to think, "If my house is gone, all I will have left is what I have with me."
Am trying to get rid of a lot of "stuff". Planning a big garage sale this spring. Just don't want to be burdened with it.
MARANTHA
We evacuated to Jacksonville, FL for Ivan. We left there to return about noon the day following landfall. EVERY bridge in our area was closed. We live on a peninsula and were barely able to make it home before curfew. Our home is on the east side of the bridge outages. Our son, who was traveling in another truck had to take a 60 mi detour to get to his home once he got near the county line because the I-10 bridge was out (think every one saw those pictures--tractor trailer hanging off the interstate with the cab and driver in the water) as well as the Hwy 90 causeway.
Took days for the bay bridges to reopen after being checked and some damage repaired. A lot longer for the causeway and I-10 bridges!!!!So now, when we are planning an evacuation route we have to take into account that if we go to NW, we may not be able to get back home because of closed/damaged bridges. It is important to return as quickly as possible to asses damage and make any emergency repairs. Also for peace of mind to know whether your home remains and in what condition.
I hate the thought of the coming hurricane season. Am trying to organize my preps so that many things will be packed ahead of time--photos, some heirlooms and other precious things, etc. After evacuating once in ea of the past years, I have pruned my list of "valuables". First time, I ended up with lots of stuff I didn't need and some stuff I was horrified to have left behind. Second time, for Dennis, was better. Each time I had to think, "If my house is gone, all I will have left is what I have with me."
Am trying to get rid of a lot of "stuff". Planning a big garage sale this spring. Just don't want to be burdened with it.
MARANTHA
The Katrina evacuee's blog is eerily similar to my family's experience when we evacuated for Hurricane Rita. What stood out to me the most was how the survival instinct was prevalent among people who were leaving. There was a truck directly behind my vehicle whose driver wouldn't let people cut around on the shoulder. We were moving so slowly that some people got out of their truck with baseball bats, threatening the driver. Another friend of mine, who was quite a bit farther ahead of us on the same evacuation route, called me when a man in the car behind her got out with a gun and shot the driver behind him. We were all sitting ducks not only at the mercy of an approaching storm, but of people who were frantically-and I mean that literally-trying to find gas and food. I was surprised at how little people were prepared.
From this experience I have decided I am safer in my own home during a hurricane. I will evacuate only if the storm is a cat 5 and forecasted to hit my area. There is absolutely no way our area could ever safely evacuate people out of here in time. There were people who actually weathered the storm in their cars because there was no more room in evacuation centers where emergency management had routed them.
From this experience I have decided I am safer in my own home during a hurricane. I will evacuate only if the storm is a cat 5 and forecasted to hit my area. There is absolutely no way our area could ever safely evacuate people out of here in time. There were people who actually weathered the storm in their cars because there was no more room in evacuation centers where emergency management had routed them.
corona
Contributing Member
I wonder if the family were stuck on a interstate or state highway and couldnt get off to a side road to fill on gas. I know when we evacuated during Rita, i got off on to county roads, and they were jammed up as well, and after stoping a few times at stores looking for more gas, i notice people getting a little finding out there wasnt any water or much food on the shelves. (come to find out later, lots of people just bug out and didnt prepared, thinking they could buy as they went) I made a point,when we wanted to take a break, we got off on to a side road to pull out the water bottles and sandwiches. I,v come to the conclusion that i plan to ride out a cat3 and lower...as for having to evacuate, I will not make reservations at a motel..i think you get into the mind set of having to get THERE and not thinking about options. I,v already started to just drive the back roads every few weeks to get familar and look at campsites along the way, We did this last week on a trip to visit my brother in the hill country. we drove the back roads west (live near galveston) and then up north to I-10 and columbus. Driving on I-45 then I-10 would normally take about 2- 2 1/2 hrs. The back road trip took 2hrs and 40 mins, so we didnt lose alot of time and the drive was great..really nice country. I did hear a couple weeks ago about an old high school friend father, seem during the Rita Evac, her father legs just starting hurting so bad (he had diabetes) and couldnt move his legs, he had to be Life flighted..he passed away about 3 wks ago, never made it back home, was in the hospital the whole time. lastly i,v posted most of this info before, but i.d like to stress this point, if you ever have to evacuate and you have kids...and especially if you travel in more than 1 car. have a system whenever you stop that you keep a good eye on the kids at all times and as you leave have a accounting system. We decided that during the evcac, since we were taking 4 cars we planned who was riding with who and that there would be NO changing up. This way we didnt have a "i thought they were with you"In a fantic situation like that it,s very easy to lose count. Also since every car had a walkie talkie, we would do a count off before we left a stop.
For hurricane Rita, I did leave before the voluntary evac was given and with two hurricanes hitting the same state just weeks apart it really made little difference in the horrible traffic congestion because the other areas were already overloaded and overwhelmed at the sheer volumn of folks needing shelter in their cities. Their grocery stores had a set amount that they purchased weekly for their normal sales volume and this number was 48% higher in weeks. They did not know how to handle this so even in areas not affected you still couldn't find bread, milk or ice. I packed enough clothes and food for 4 days and came back to absolutely nothing left but a couch and coffee table that was salvaged from my home. I did bring along a 40 gallon fuel tank but it was needed far more by those who were still here saving what was left so it was sent home to them. I did purchase another firearm after returning to the devastation because just in those few weeks some thugs were getting despirate and I was robbed twice in one month.
Terriannie
Has No Life - Lives on TB
It was because of this forum that I was much better prepared in all aspects with each hurricane we experienced including the two no-shows Georges and Ivan. For Katrina, prepping really came into practice yet even now I know I have to prep more. (Much more in case of something worse.)
I say, listen to the experts. The experienced.
IF and only IF you have to leave, make sure you know the backroads and side streets. Knowing mine reduced what would have been a nightmaric trek of up to 10 hours to make a 20 mile ride to only 6 hours.
Think, no gas, no stores, no emergency help, no police, no facilities and prep accordingly.
I say, listen to the experts. The experienced.
IF and only IF you have to leave, make sure you know the backroads and side streets. Knowing mine reduced what would have been a nightmaric trek of up to 10 hours to make a 20 mile ride to only 6 hours.
Think, no gas, no stores, no emergency help, no police, no facilities and prep accordingly.
Charlie
Membership Revoked
While the "Survival Ring" story is exciting, I prefer Doc1's much more boring bug out recount.
Doc1 knows the risks of living in a Hurricane area. He had his "fecal matter organized".
He watched the weather situation and made a very good decision to get himself and family out of Dodge very early and thus avoided the rush.
As a result of his ZEN PREPPING he saved his and his immediate families hinders.
He lost almost everything as far as "things". But he and his family are still here and with his attitude and skills will prevail. IMHO he will THRIVE!
Lest we forget, he and his family are still suffering and will for a long time.'
But, he is alive and safe....and his story is far more boring than the Rambo story about being in the evacuation from hell.
He is trying to rebuild as best he can. I chatted with him on the phone a few days ago. He is prepping yet again for next years hurricane season. That dude is one hell of a ZEN PREPPER.
The Survival Ring fellow at least had preps, but he sure as hell waited far to long to evacuate.
Doc1 knows the risks of living in a Hurricane area. He had his "fecal matter organized".
He watched the weather situation and made a very good decision to get himself and family out of Dodge very early and thus avoided the rush.
As a result of his ZEN PREPPING he saved his and his immediate families hinders.
He lost almost everything as far as "things". But he and his family are still here and with his attitude and skills will prevail. IMHO he will THRIVE!
Lest we forget, he and his family are still suffering and will for a long time.'
But, he is alive and safe....and his story is far more boring than the Rambo story about being in the evacuation from hell.
He is trying to rebuild as best he can. I chatted with him on the phone a few days ago. He is prepping yet again for next years hurricane season. That dude is one hell of a ZEN PREPPER.
The Survival Ring fellow at least had preps, but he sure as hell waited far to long to evacuate.
Terriannie
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Doc was right in leaving way before the order was given.
It was a fluke that I got caught in the no-show Ivan traffic trap. My husband just had knee replacement surgery and I went to stay with him in case the hurricane was coming but the hospital said they were't set up for families to evacuate with the patients. By the time I heard that, it was too late. The order was given and I had to fight traffic and tears all the way out of New Orleans.
All the therapists evacuated also so he had to do his own therapy with just the help of one over-worked nurse. Did pretty good for himself too. When it came time to leave he had to get signed off with the newly returned therapist. He asked why? He was able to walk with crutches and even dressed himself! The way he looked at it he should have been paid for his own services!!
It was a fluke that I got caught in the no-show Ivan traffic trap. My husband just had knee replacement surgery and I went to stay with him in case the hurricane was coming but the hospital said they were't set up for families to evacuate with the patients. By the time I heard that, it was too late. The order was given and I had to fight traffic and tears all the way out of New Orleans.
All the therapists evacuated also so he had to do his own therapy with just the help of one over-worked nurse. Did pretty good for himself too. When it came time to leave he had to get signed off with the newly returned therapist. He asked why? He was able to walk with crutches and even dressed himself! The way he looked at it he should have been paid for his own services!!
okie medicvet
Membership Revoked
fascinating stories there..and a lot of good advice on what to do in an emergency evacation is in with them too.
My prayers go out to all who suffered the effects of the hurricane, and that they are able to make a full recovery.
My prayers go out to all who suffered the effects of the hurricane, and that they are able to make a full recovery.
Doc1
Has No Life - Lives on TB
I'm trying to be polite...
Thunderbird,
I stewed on this for a couple of days, so you're getting the 'polite' response. There are a lot of "clear answers" to this. I gave several on my first post.
First, under virtually any applications and circumstances, diesels last far longer than gasoline engines. Period, end of story, full stop.
From the Oak Ridge National Laboratory: "Diesel engines offer up to 50% greater efficiencies than their gasoline-powered counterparts and lower emissions of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. Diesels also offer the advantage of much greater longevity..."
On the downside, they are much heavier than gasoline engines of simiilar power, may have cold weather starting problems and are much more expensive than similar gasoline-powered vehicles.
For those who are bugging out and carrying their own fuel, diesel is INCOMPARABLY safer than gasoline. These drivers will also - generally - be able to go farther between fillups than gas vehicles. Again, immediately after Katrina, I saw huge gas lines and some bad behavior over fuel, as well as heard countless gas theft stories. I have yet to hear a single episode of diesel theft or fighting over that fuel. DO NOT rely on the commodity (gas) that everyone else needs!
I would suggest that it's never a good idea to try to tell a mob anything. I avoid them. Again, re-read my post. The people in the story were extremely foolish to fill up their gas vehicles in front of desperate mobs (or stay in the vicinity of mobs) and there is no way I will ever be convinced that during their entire trip to Dallas there wasn't a single exit where they could have headed out into more remote areas to get away from same. At worst, it may have cost them more time. "Gee, Paw...do we face down angry mobs and shave 12 hours off the trip, or should we take this remote highway?" It's really a no brainer.
BTW, we were extremely heavily armed during our Katrina evacuation, yet I never came close to having to brandish a weapon.
The people in the story were like the vast majority of deer-in-the-headlights evacuees who can't think to get off of the damned interstates. I have seen this time and time again...
I will agree with you that people on the move may be targets, but the rational response here is to minimize you're apparent attractiveness as a target, don't put yourself in target areas and ,as a last resort, be prepared to counter with overwhelming - and rapid - force, anyone who attempts to make you their target. That is the clearest answer of all.
Best regards
Doc
Thunderbird said:
Thunderbird,
I stewed on this for a couple of days, so you're getting the 'polite' response. There are a lot of "clear answers" to this. I gave several on my first post.
First, under virtually any applications and circumstances, diesels last far longer than gasoline engines. Period, end of story, full stop.
From the Oak Ridge National Laboratory: "Diesel engines offer up to 50% greater efficiencies than their gasoline-powered counterparts and lower emissions of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. Diesels also offer the advantage of much greater longevity..."
On the downside, they are much heavier than gasoline engines of simiilar power, may have cold weather starting problems and are much more expensive than similar gasoline-powered vehicles.
For those who are bugging out and carrying their own fuel, diesel is INCOMPARABLY safer than gasoline. These drivers will also - generally - be able to go farther between fillups than gas vehicles. Again, immediately after Katrina, I saw huge gas lines and some bad behavior over fuel, as well as heard countless gas theft stories. I have yet to hear a single episode of diesel theft or fighting over that fuel. DO NOT rely on the commodity (gas) that everyone else needs!
I would suggest that it's never a good idea to try to tell a mob anything. I avoid them. Again, re-read my post. The people in the story were extremely foolish to fill up their gas vehicles in front of desperate mobs (or stay in the vicinity of mobs) and there is no way I will ever be convinced that during their entire trip to Dallas there wasn't a single exit where they could have headed out into more remote areas to get away from same. At worst, it may have cost them more time. "Gee, Paw...do we face down angry mobs and shave 12 hours off the trip, or should we take this remote highway?" It's really a no brainer.
BTW, we were extremely heavily armed during our Katrina evacuation, yet I never came close to having to brandish a weapon.
The people in the story were like the vast majority of deer-in-the-headlights evacuees who can't think to get off of the damned interstates. I have seen this time and time again...
I will agree with you that people on the move may be targets, but the rational response here is to minimize you're apparent attractiveness as a target, don't put yourself in target areas and ,as a last resort, be prepared to counter with overwhelming - and rapid - force, anyone who attempts to make you their target. That is the clearest answer of all.
Best regards
Doc
HorsesRcool
Inactive
I evac'd to San Antonio during Rita and took back roads, smaller highways and had no problem getting there. The major problems were in Houston and the major interstates, so my advice always have a good road map.
What is SOOOOO scary about this is, what if its a bad terrorist incident, the panic would bring out the worse in people just like in the movie someone quoted War of Worlds. Its just too scary to even think about!!
What is SOOOOO
scary about this is, what if its a bad terrorist incident, the panic would bring out the worse in people just like in the movie someone quoted War of Worlds. Its just too scary to even think about!!
okie medicvet
Membership Revoked
Yup. And I don't even want to THINK about trying to evacuate any city from an NBC attack..
http://www.rei.com/online/store/Pro...productId=9900924&parent_category_rn=10574168
DeLorme offers an atlas of each state. Maps show all maintained roads.
DeLorme offers an atlas of each state. Maps show all maintained roads.
Cruiser
Membership Revoked
While telling a mob that your vehicle is diesel so you don't have any gas for them might just mean you may loose your vehicle instead. This is why if you are going to evacuate you need to do it early.
I live in east central Florida about 45 miles from the coast. Unless a cat 5 is heading straight for me I'm staying put.
I live in east central Florida about 45 miles from the coast. Unless a cat 5 is heading straight for me I'm staying put.
Doc1
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Yes!
Yes, you can run the vast majority of diesels on straight veggie oil, but check with your manufacturer for specifics.
I've run our various diesels on diesel, kerosene (mixed), jet fuel, automatic transmission fluid. motor oil, hydraulic oil, cooking oil and various other concoctions in different dilutions.
One of the real attributes of diesels as survival vehicles is their unmatched fuel versatility.
When cars are abandoned on the side of the road for lack of gasoline, I can literally drain their crankcases and use that old oil as fuel!
Best regards
Doc
Telyn said:
Yes, you can run the vast majority of diesels on straight veggie oil, but check with your manufacturer for specifics.
I've run our various diesels on diesel, kerosene (mixed), jet fuel, automatic transmission fluid. motor oil, hydraulic oil, cooking oil and various other concoctions in different dilutions.
One of the real attributes of diesels as survival vehicles is their unmatched fuel versatility.
When cars are abandoned on the side of the road for lack of gasoline, I can literally drain their crankcases and use that old oil as fuel!
Best regards
Doc
Fuzzychick
Membership Revoked
HorsesRcool said:I evac'd to San Antonio during Rita and took back roads, smaller highways and had no problem getting there. The major problems were in Houston and the major interstates, so my advice always have a good road map.
What is SOOOOO
Perhaps it's the "friends" that you make along the way that have people concerned.