How do you choose evacuation destinations?

Give each destination a job

A useful destination is not simply the farthest address available. It is a place the household can reach and use under the conditions that may require leaving.

Begin with:

• a first choice that is practical for the most likely reasons the household would leave;
• an alternate if the first destination, route, or surrounding area is unavailable; and
• any official shelter information the local government publishes during an event.

A nearby option and a farther option may serve different events. A short local disruption may require only a night elsewhere. A large evacuation zone may require leaving the wider area. There is no universal distance that makes a destination suitable.

The official destination, shelter, zone, or route announced for a particular event takes precedence over the standing plan.

Check whether the place can actually receive the household

For each destination, ask:

• Has the host or operator agreed that the household may go there?
• How many people can stay there, and for how long?
• Can every person enter, sleep, use the toilet, and leave the building?
• Are pets accepted? Are service animals accommodated as required?
• Can required medicine, equipment, refrigeration, charging, water, or care continue there?
• Is there a safe way to arrive if the usual road, vehicle, elevator, or transit service is unavailable?
• Who must be contacted before arrival?
• What could make the destination unavailable?

Do not treat an address, a host's permission, or a prior stay as proof that the place will meet every need during a future event. Record the date and the specific needs that were discussed.

For a public shelter, use the location and opening instructions issued for the current event. A building used as a shelter in the past may not be open for the next one.

Use the companion guides for:

• additional time, assistance, or accessible transportation;
• medicine that needs controlled storage;
• medical or mobility equipment;
• pets and service animals; and
• a destination that must provide a particular level of care.

Keep the plan available

1. Record the exact address, a recognizable nickname, host or operator contact, and the needs confirmed.
2. Keep a first choice and at least one alternate.
3. Review directions while connected and keep an offline map or written directions as a backup.
4. Record when the destination and directions were last checked.
5. Share the usable plan with the people who may need to help.

A saved route is planning information, not proof that a road is currently open or safe. It may not show traffic, closures, flooding or emergency restrictions.

Review the plan when something changes

Review both destinations when:

• the household moves;
• a host moves or can no longer receive the household;
• the household gains a pet, service animal, medicine, equipment, or access need;
• a route, bridge, ferry, or transit service changes materially;
• the destination has not been reconfirmed within the period the household chose; or
• a current event affects the destination or the route to it.

During a watch or other credible lead time, confirm the destination, transportation, and current official instructions again. Refreshing a saved route does not replace that confirmation.

Do not

• Do not choose every destination in the same immediate area if a wider evacuation could affect all of them.
• Do not assume a host, hotel, shelter, school, or care facility is available without current confirmation.
• Do not treat a saved or calculated route as an evacuation order or a recommendation to use that road.
• Do not treat the shortest route as the safest route during an event.
• Do not delay an official evacuation order because the preferred destination is unavailable.
• Do not record sensitive medical or assistance details in a destination nickname.

Next action

Choose a first destination and an alternate. Confirm permission and the needs each can meet, then save contacts and directions that the household can use without a connection.