Hurrying Away from Hurricanes

Mr. Prepared Says Evacuees’ Experience Reveals a Lot!

Mr. Prepared here.  I recently wrote an online article, “Hurricane Evacuation Secrets,” because I found it fascinating, after Hurricane Gustav prompted the biggest evacuation out of New Orleans, to read the blogs of the people who had to pick up and leave everything behind – including their pets, in most cases – in order to escape a hurricane emergency. 

 As we now know, Gustav didn’t hit the Big Easy with nearly the punch Katrina delivered – thank goodness!  But when 240,000-plus people have to leave a large city all at once, it’s going to cause some problems – not to mention a ton of traffic!

 As you’ll see in my article, people were stuck in traffic for 17 hours or more during the evacuation process.  That’s why many blog writers focused on how to keep children entertained during all that time on a hot sweltering freeway where cars are barely moving at all.  It’s hard enough to keep kids busy when they’re home with all their toys and the TV!

 As hurricane activity seems to increase with every passing year, this kind of massive evacuation may become more commonplace – and New Orleans could end up losing a lot more of its population.  It already lost close to forty percent of its people after Katrina, according to some estimates.  In any event, the firsthand accounts from evacuees should be seriously studied to give everyone faced with that traumatic situation the information they need – to make sure they get through it as painlessly as possible!

 Also remember that these kinds of evacuation orders are rare!  More generally, people sit out storms.  This requires its own kind of emergency preparations that should be made well in advance – including having a plan for your family during the storm and having the food, water and survival supplies on hand you’ll find necessary if vital services are lost.

 Whether you stay or go, you need to be prepared for anything when it comes to hurricanes!  Find out more at my website, www.MrPrepared.com.  Until next time, Be Smart!  Be Safe!  Be Prepared! This is Mr. Prepared, bringing Awareness to Preparedness!