What should you pack if you need to leave quickly?

Decide before the emergency

Limited notice is not the time to choose a destination, find essential medicine, locate a carrier, or decide who can drive.

1. Choose a first destination and an alternate.
2. Review directions and keep an offline backup.
3. Agree who should receive departure and arrival updates.
4. Arrange transport, assistance, equipment, medicine storage and animal needs.
5. Make a short checklist with named tasks.
6. Practice from receiving an alert to being ready to board.

Plan additional time and support with anyone who needs accessible information, transport, assistance, equipment or a service animal. Ask the person what help is useful.

Make an always-take list

Keep the list short enough to use under pressure. It should cover what the household cannot safely leave without or easily replace on arrival.

Consider:

• every person, pet, and service animal;
• daily medicine, medication instructions, and essential medical supplies;
• mobility, communication, treatment, and charging equipment;
• phones, charging cables, approved backup batteries, and a battery-powered alert source;
• identification, payment method, keys, and essential contact information;
• weather-appropriate clothing and sturdy footwear;
• the emergency kit and water the household can transport safely; and
• carriers, leashes, animal medicine, food, water, and records.

The exact contents depend on the household and the event. Use the medication, equipment, water, communication, and pet companion guides for quantities and special handling.

Keep documents usable offline

Keep the minimum necessary paper copy or protected offline copy of information needed during travel: identification, insurance information, medication and care plans, prescriptions, emergency contacts and animal records.

An account or cloud copy can be useful, but it should not be the only usable copy of immediate care instructions or contact numbers.

Assign the departure tasks

Give each task a primary person and a backup when possible. Include:

• monitoring official instructions;
• contacting transportation or assistance;
• gathering medicine and equipment;
• helping children or another person as planned;
• securing pets or service-animal supplies;
• taking the document and contact packet;
• loading the vehicle or reaching the pickup point;
• checking that everyone has left; and
• notifying contacts after departure.

Do not assign a task that requires training, strength, access, or authority the person does not have.

Make two short lists:

• Take every time: the essential people, animals, medicine, equipment, documents, and communication items.
• Only if time and officials allow: replaceable comfort items and property tasks that must never delay departure.

When a watch or credible threat gives lead time

1. Monitor official information and confirm whether the household is in an affected zone.
2. Confirm the destination, host or shelter, transportation, helpers, and animal arrangements.
3. Charge phones and approved equipment batteries.
4. Put medicine, equipment, documents, kits, carriers, keys, and footwear where they can be taken without searching.
5. Fuel or charge the planned vehicle when it is safe and practical, or reconfirm the transportation provider.
6. Review current route information and the limits of saved directions.
7. Move earlier if the household's supported-departure plan has a documented earlier trigger.

A watch is preparation time, not permission to ignore a later warning or order. Conditions may also require sheltering rather than evacuation. Follow the protective action officials issue for the event.

When officials tell you to evacuate

1. Leave as directed, using the official route, destination and timing when provided.
2. Take the always-take items that are ready. Do not delay for the optional list.
3. Use current official information and navigation when available; treat saved directions as a backup that cannot confirm present road conditions.
4. Call or text designated contacts when safe and a connection is available. Do not let sending an update delay leaving.
5. Follow barricades, emergency personnel and official route changes even when they differ from saved directions.
6. Send a separate arrival or plan-change update when possible.

If immediate help is needed to leave, call emergency services and state the location, communication method, transport or assistance need, essential equipment and service animal.

Do not

• Do not wait for a preferred destination, helper, or recipient to reply before obeying an evacuation order.
• Do not return for property after leaving unless officials say reentry is allowed.
• Do not drive around a barricade or through floodwater because a saved route uses that road.
• Do not rely on one phone, one route, one vehicle, or one communication method.
• Do not spend departure time photographing property, organizing records, or gathering replaceable belongings.
• Do not turn off utilities unless officials or the utility direct it and the person knows the safe procedure.
• Do not represent a sent notice as proof that contacts received or read it.

Next action

Create the Take every time and Only if time allows lists. Assign each essential task, place the necessary items where they can be reached, and practice until the household knows what happens from alert to departure.