Biggest US cities not ready to evacuate

[Archangel]

Biggest US cities not ready to evacuate

//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061012/us_nm/security_evacuation_dc

I hope I have it correct.

We have all talked about BOBs and things. lets look at two things can you go where you need to go and little things that will help.

Houston showed us that evacuation plans may not work. I've looked at my area and going north may work, but east is crowed at the best of times and south and west led to Mexico.

Money:

Cash talks the ATMs and credit cards may not work if telephone lines are down.

Another trick is a roll of quarters in a medical bottle. More than once I've run into food machines and telephones that just will not take dollar bills.

I has been a long time since I had to evacuate and I'm sure there are many new ideas.

We're playing you gotta go. So share your 2 cents worth, MIke

[MYellowRose]

Luckily I've never had to evacuate. I know when the people from the coast come north to get away from an oncoming hurricane the roads can become gridlocked. My suggestion would be to evaluate the quickest way out of your town that doesn't use major freeways and roadways. In rush hour here the freeways can become stop and go in certain areas even when there aren't any wrecks! I think I know the city well enough to get out without using them. My only problem now is lack of transportation. My DD lives on the northeast side of town and I live on the south central side, probably between 10 and 15 miles apart. For them to come get me would be inconvenient and time consuming but I hope it would be something they would be willing to do in an absolute emergency if I had no other way to get out.

[hillbilly_mom]

I am hoping where I live I won't have to go anywhere. I can only see us leaving if there is a chemical spill on the railway that is 10 miles from us. Other than that the closest city is 50 miles away. We are dead center between 3 cities. Prevaling winds take most harmful things away from us. My only worry would be having DH get home from where ever he was working at the time. Most times his jobs are near or in big cities. He goes where the union sends him. ::) Right now he is 8 miles from the Chemical stockpile/destruction site. It doesn't look good for him. :( For us 3 at home, we are usually well stocked up with everything we need, unless it is near the time to fill my prescriptions. Dratted insurance companies will only let you have a 30 day supply. >:( But my meds aren't for a life threatening illness and I could survive without them. It just wouldn't be a pleasant experience.

[Ozarks_1]

"Among the recommendations made by the [American Highway Users Alliance]: ... Creating government programs to increase car ownership among low-income people."

(source: http://standeyo.com/NEWS/06_USA/061014.cities.evac.routes.html )

As a retired auto mechanic, I've seen the kinds of vehicles that those types of "low-income people" own/drive and the type of maintenance (or lack thereof) those vehicles receive. Calling many of them "junk" would be kind.
If such a government program were put into place, I wonder how long it would be before some "genius" figured out that an 'assured maintenance program' "needed" to be put into place. And, of course, those additional vehicles need insurance; right? Another special government program?

Think about the increased numbers of worn out, poorly maintained vehicles the above-mentioned program would put on the roads during an evacuation!
Gridlock, anyone?

[mangyhyena]

Bugging out will be difficult, if not impossible, in a car if everyone in the city is also trying to get out. So an alternative might be in order.

Dirt bikes or ATV's are an option. Due to the fact that you can't load all the supplies you'll need on them, I'd suggest caching supplies along your escape route and at your final destination, wherever it is you've decided to ride out the emergency.

A 4X4 will do you good for bugging out only if you have a route that other vehicles are not going to clog.

Railroad tracks might be a viable alternative to using the congested roads. Or perhaps hiking trails that may be in your area.

Trick is to be moving even when most others are bogged down in traffic. The only chance you'll have at this is to study maps of your area and identify routes out that are off the beaten path.

[CarolAnn]

Last year when the tornado ripped off a chunk of my town, I discovered that I could get out, but after work, they wouldn't let me back in!

It turned out I could go home via a long detour - but this brings up the point that you really do need a BOB in the car. Now I keep enough clothes, food, a tool kit, emergency medical supplies, etc., crammed in my trunk that if I ever have a flat tire, I'll be truly in a fix to get at the spare! But if I can't get back home, I can change clothes, eat and be fairly comfortable for a while.

I wouldn't live in a city where there weren't at least six ways to get out of town, and I'd make sure I know them all well.

[DavidOH]

Grade: B
2 Columbus, Ohio 82.3

Yup, I expect to be getting visitors if there's a disaster.

[JakeLeg]

here's a little anecdote about a time that it worked.

our rural homestead is about 1/2 hour from Wilkes Barre, PA. we both work in or near the city.

in June, a weeklong tropical rain system dumped a foot or more (we had about 15 inches at the house) of rain on the area.

NOAA predicted that the Susquehanna was going to crest within a few inches of the leveee system built after the 1972 Agnes flooding. it was not predicted to crest over the levees, but the city & county were unsure if the levees would hold or would break, because they hadn't been tested in a real life situation to those levels.

the county ordered a mandatory evacuation for anyone living within the 1972 flood plain which included several townships as well as the city. all in all, it was something like 200,000 people. the evac was announced at about 10 or 11 a.m. that Wednesday, and was effective before 7:00pm when the curfew was to take place. if you had to evac and did not have friends/relatives, then about a dozen evac centers were open in schools and township buildings around the area. we don't live in the evac zone, as we are almost 1000 vertical feet above the river, but we had to evac from work nonetheless.

we took the evac route in our trip home, since we hadn't heard of any troubles on the road on the CB or scanner, and the evac route cut off many miles from our next choice. we made it through the westbound evac route without as much as a burp of a problem. didn't even sit in any traffic because we waited a few hours.

the area was supposed to be in evacuation for 48 hours, but was cut short at about 36 hours when the river started to recede early.

i only remember one account of a guy caught trying to break into someone's house. other than that, no hoardes, no flocks of bloodthirsty zombies, no civil unrest. it was just a day and a half off of work for wife & i, and to boot, the full day off was just after the rain stopped, so i had a whole extra day to do garden stuff.