Preparedness for when

Frugalsod

The extreme weather situation does require some planning. In most cases a basement is usually a safe option even if the house above is destroyed as regularly happens with US Tornados. So as long as you have the important kit down in the basement/storm shelter then you should be fine. If you live in an isolated area with little chance of immediate help it might also help to have buried nearby in safer locations ie up a hill a barrel with emergency supplies.

Each scenario will require a different solution. There is no one size fits all bug out bag.

[Deleted User]

I wish I had a house with a basement, unfortunately we don't so we'd be scuppered!

nuatha

Frugalsod wrote: »

I think that prepping to leave for a few days say when the area is evacuated for a specific reason and bugging out are very different cases.

It is good to have a copy of important documents in an evacuation bag, along with money, spare clothes and things that you will need for work etc, should you be evacuated for a few days. Though you will almost certainly be allowed back soon enough.

Circumstances that require permanent bugging out will be clear and while they may take some time to develop. You will also have time to co-ordinate plans with friends and family. Even a flood will have some warning, unless you live downstream of a badly maintained dam or similar will develop over time and you will have some warning of how long you might be away. Though once the crisis develops you might be pretty busy stacking sand bags across your property.

The sky turned black at 16:15, the rain started at 16:40, by 17:05 there were streets flooded with houses having several inches of water in them - my experience of the supercell fueled flooding that hit the North East on the 28th June 2012.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afm3_WUIqIc
The Boscastle flood in 2004 was preceded by 8 hours of constant heavy rain - the consequences of which were still unexpected (the previous flood there being 1963 IIRC.

Just about everywhere there has been mining, there are unmapped and long forgotten tunnels, not to mention river culvets and private transport tunnels any of which can collapse at any time potentially rendering someone's home not only uninhabitable but preventing the retrieval of any effects.

Being evacuated from your home due to a temporary problem can easily turn into not having a home to return to - finding a torpedo in your garden might be a rare event, thankfully that one could be defused and the residents of the row of cottages could return home, if defusing hadn't been an option, then a controlled explosion would have wrecked most of the cottages. (locals had said there were two torpedoes dropped during the second world war but only one was recovered and it was assumed the eyewitnesses were wrong, until someone was double digging their garden and found the missing torpedo 30+ years later.)

greenbee

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

I wish I had a house with a basement, unfortunately we don't so we'd be scuppered!

have you checked your groundwater levels recently? You might be grateful that you don't :cool:

[Deleted User]

We're some 10 feet above ground level up a slope from the road and with the old gravel quarry (now several bungalows and gardens) some 12ft below our northern boundary, our fence is at the top of the slope down to it, we'll never have a problem with groundwater, have you got a duckpond in the cellar pet? Hope not!!!

greenbee

I don't have a cellar, but plenty of those round here who do find that they are regularly flooded.

Frugalsod

A flood like Boscastle is rare but you can also minimise your risk by not buying a home at the bottom of a deep river valley. 8 hours of heavy rain would give people a reason to prep but the main losses were of cars. Which by law you have to have insured anyway.

My example of evacuation could be a police raid, or a suspected gas leak, or noxious gas. You might even be evacuated if you live near where there is going to be big international conference you might be asked to move out for the duration. There would be no risk of not returning home unless the US secret service accidentally drove through your home.

RAS

Have not experienced the supercell at close quarters, although one wrecked communities just over the hill.

However last Christmas was the first in 5 years when getting to family has been uneventful.

Cowley Bridge Junction floodsgot in the way in 2013. We were told that the train would terminate at Tiverton Parkway and buses would take us onwards; even given ETA at my destination.

Fine. DS was a bit more concerned but accepted the advice I forwarded. Got to Bristol and sat there. Eventually told to get another train, which left before most passengers got there.

Repeatedly told the next train would go through but began to make alternative plans with the elderly lady I was assisting. We had ascertained that so many people were being delivered to Tiverton that there were not enough coaches to move them onwards and therefore not enough space on platforms to take any more arrivals. Since the rail companies knew how many tickets had been sold, this was staggering. Was glad not to have caught that train.

Eventually the guard we were asking heard that Cowley was under water and said it would be days before it opened.

Plan B was to take our gear, Mary would mind it and I would find hotel rooms. Having moved fast, I got rooms over the road and installed Mary.

By this time the station was getting difficult; the staff were refusing to talk to passengers with tickets from other companies; more and more people were being delivered from all over the country; some coming from the north had been on the move 12-24 hours. Staff refused to re-fund tickets which meant people had no money, no idea when they might be able to travel and some no way of contacting family.

I gather that by 9pm they called the mounted police and eventually cleared station; no idea where thousands of people ended up that night.

As it happened someone was travelling past the city and I was able to meet them and complete the journey, although I had also sussed coach and bus alternatives which were functioning.

The three years prior to that involved digging in or out of snow or repeated gritting of minor roads to get in or out.

Was really nice to have a quiet Christmas last year.

RAS

Frugalsod wrote: »

A flood like Boscastle is rare but you can also minimise your risk by not buying a home at the bottom of a deep river valley. 8 hours of heavy rain would give people a reason to prep but the main losses were of cars. Which by law you have to have insured anyway.

If I remember rightly, the key problem was a tree that blocked the bridge, leading water to overflow into higher roads and paths and come in from the back, or first floor windows.

I am quite high at home but some years ago a 15 inch water main was opened on high ground. As a result a lot of houses on the hill were flooded and the north side of the city had no water for several days.

moneyistooshorttomention

Frugalsod wrote: »

A flood like Boscastle is rare but you can also minimise your risk by not buying a home at the bottom of a deep river valley. 8 hours of heavy rain would give people a reason to prep but the main losses were of cars. Which by law you have to have insured anyway.

My example of evacuation could be a police raid, or a suspected gas leak, or noxious gas. You might even be evacuated if you live near where there is going to be big international conference you might be asked to move out for the duration. There would be no risk of not returning home unless the US secret service accidentally drove through your home.

Moved out from a home with a big international conference nearby - !!!!!!:eek:. Do the powers-that-be try that sort of thing on? That thought would never have crossed my mind of anything like that happening, closely followed by a second thought of "If they want some bad publicity of photos of a home-owner being bodily ejected from their own home to suit them....they'd be going the right way about it" - or do they bribe people to move out with huge financial incentives to do so (ie "You move out for 1 week and we will pay you £10k to do so")?