NCDR what would you take?

[DGM]

I talked with someone IRL yesterday whose daughter lost her house to Hurricane Sandy which came up because we were discussing the east coast blizzard. I've had to evacuate due to wildfires before...what would you take if you had to evacuate your home?

[DGM]

I would grab L obviously, CDs (LOL), her newborn pics, our anniversary photo album, our firesafe with important documents inside and clothes/shoes for all of us. Oh and hopefully the ergo if it wasn't already in the car.

[unaveragejane]

This reminds me. I still can't find the key to the safe. Oops.

[sasq09]

Questions like this stress me out lol. Honestly, in some ways in way too attached to stuff, but I realize that all that matters is people (and pets!) that said, pictures are super important too me, and I have a box of journals /love letters from dh that I would hate to lose.
P.S. Yep, you read that right, mh wrote me three journals while we were dating. And I still have a box full of love letters ❤ he's the best

[Stringy]

Having family who were evacuated from sandy at the last minute and had 5 feet of water in their houses- I'd be happy to get out with my family and have somewhere to go.

[DGM]

Jan 29, 2015 8:15:16 GMT -5 sasq09 said:

Questions like this stress me out lol. Honestly, in some ways in way too attached to stuff, but I realize that all that matters is people (and pets!) that said, pictures are super important too me, and I have a box of journals /love letters from dh that I would hate to lose.
P.S. Yep, you read that right, mh wrote me three journals while we were dating. And I still have a box full of love letters ❤ he's the best

Thanks for playing! Yeah, I've talked with people who lost their homes to fire, and they said now they realize it was just stuff. Their families were safe, they grabbed pets & pictures, and that's what mattered. I totally understand though why you'd grab the journals and love letters!

Now that I think more about it, I'd selfishly also want to grab our family Bible and some of my special mugs/dishes so if we did lose everything, starting all over wouldn't be so foreign.

[DGM]

Jan 29, 2015 8:20:35 GMT -5 Stringy said:

Having family who were evacuated from sandy at the last minute and had 5 feet of water in their houses- I'd be happy to get out with my family and have somewhere to go.

And now I sound so shallow...

[sasq09]

I don't think you sound shallow at all. We all know that our loved ones are all that truly matter, but I think all of us would be comforted somewhat by some of our familiar special "things"

[pbandj714]

This is a hard question! In a moment of panic like that, I would really just make sure that my family and dog were safe. I can't think of anything else I would even consider in that moment, but we would probably just grab whatever's closest to us that mattered and take off.

[gahorseygal]

My family definitely comes first. In my area tornado's are the biggest threat (We usually get 2 or 3 a year that come within a few miles). We don't have a basement so we just hide in our closet. I don't usually grab anything other than my family, dogs, pillows and large comforter. A mattress to protect you is BS when you have a king size bed. There isn't really time to grab anything else. We haven't had any threats since having LO and before she was born it was hard enough waking my husband up and pittie up to get them in the closet.

[awful]

It depends on how quick I needed to get out. There was an apartment fire and DH and I seriously just got out of bed and ran out the front door. All I brought with me was my phone because I was checking the time. All those years of training to leave everything and get our really sticks with you. We even left the cats. Luckily out actual apartment wasn't extremely damaged so we salvaged mostly everything and our cats were rescued by firefighters.

[unaveragejane]

The things that I prize the most beyond family (duh) and pictures are a quilt Mom made for N, a really old quilt her mom made from feed sacks back in the 40s or 50s, and some paintings my mom did.

<Loss Mentioned>


Speaking of fires, did y'all see the news story about the house that burned down in Annapolis? The grandparents were keeping 4 of the grand kids overnight and the Christmas tree caught fire. I couldn't imagine being one of the parents and having to deal with losing my kids and my parents in one night.

[pipsqueak]

I keep all my important documents in a vinyl folder with one of those string and two button closures so I can grab it at a moment's notice......other than that and my kids.....much of my stuff is replaceable.....I've already fled my home with just my kids and what I could fit in my car. (Took our clothes and box of photos and a few of the things I knew were important to my kids) The important part, for us, was knowing we had somewhere to go and a plan for starting over. Granted my situation was different in that we were fleeing dv and not a disaster so I was able to sneak things out of the house earlier (like I sent the folder with the important docs out by concealing it in something else that ex saw me give to my mom....and I sent a spare outfit for each of us home with my mom when I made an excuse to do laundry at the laundromat)

[mrslka]

We have had to evacuate once when we lived in WY. We left with DS1(2 months old at the time) and our dogs, we grabbed the laundry basket of clean cloths that just came out of the dryer and left. After feeling very unprepared we stepped it up. Now all important paperwork and SD cards with all of our pictures, are kept in a fire and water proof safe. Now if you would have to evacuate I only need to get the kids and dog out of the house.

[rugger]

Obviously, if it was last minute, I'd just make sure we had the kids, the dog, and our wallets and phones. Both of our cars already have bottled water. I'd grab the diapers if I had 2 extra minutes to throw them in a bag.

If I had like 30 min to gather things, I would get..
From the basement: important documents (SS cards, birth certificates, etc.) from the safe and our wedding album.
From the main level: Diaper stash, baby carrier, shoes and a coat for each of us. Dog collar & leash. Dog food. The camera, and maybe the laptop with charger. Batteries. One box of snacks (squeeze pouches and granola bars ftw!).
From the top level: Extra blankets and towels. One suitcase with everyone's clothes (like, a spare outfit for each of us). Cell phone chargers. The girls' birth/baptism shadow boxes.

Seems like a lot, but if I had time to pull everything together, I'm sure our car would be stuffed with things that are deemed "highly valuable" like food, clothing, supplies.

Thinking about all of this makes me hope and pray I never have to deal with an evacuation situation. And also makes me want a full stash of flats, just in case

[sarenu]

Other then pets and kids.

Edit
still getting used to this phone.

My wedding ring, diapers, underwear, clothes, tula, food and water. The rest is nice, but survival is more important.

My phone and wallet would be grabbed on the way out the door.

[DGM]

Thanks everyone! The love peens are for playing, not for those who have actually evacuated. Jane, I think I did hear about that story. Sad. Mrslka, glad you were safe. Awful, glad you guys were safe too and cats rescued, and pips, hugs for just being amazing.


The time we evacuated was during the voluntary stage so there was time to think, but this reminds me there may not always be time to think. I also took for granted there's somewhere to go. You all make me think outside my little box and I like it.

[MapleMomma]

I'm with those here who have been through it. We had a major house fire when I was a teenager. We recovered next to nothing. The thing I miss the most are a quilt from my grandma and pictures of me growing up. At the end of the day though, it doesn't matter except we were all safe. Especially glad it started during the day and not the night since it was in my bedroom (fluke electrical).

[kmmd]

These things really stress me out but I'm trying to get us prepared in case anyhing like that were ever to happen.

I've been working on a family binder that has all kinds of important information that we could just grab in a hurry.

I'd probably also take my external hard drive because photos of my loved ones are probably my most prized possession.

Other than that, I'd just make sure the whole family is out safe first obviously.

[esd]

We weren't home when the fire in our house started but when I opened the door and say all the smoke, I kept the kids outside and just ran in and got our dog before calling 911. I do have all of our important docs and external hard drive in a lidded box that's easy to grab.

[piccyami]

When we lived near the gulf coast, I kept a case of water, a bag with everything the cats would need, and a bag for each of us. We didn't have the "important" stuff with us at the time, so everything we needed was just survival. We were lucky and never felt the need to leave.

These days, all of our pictures are backed up on cloud sites and family has copies of most of our important documents. We now live in an area where we shouldn't need to evacuate for weather, but if something were to happen (tornado, house fire), family is seriously just down the street. I would just grab the cats and walk down to my mom's house. Things can be replaced.

[doeie04]

Family, the cat, our fire box with important papers (eventually there will be a hard drive with pictures in there), clothes and diapers and necessities. In that order, depending on time.

[DGM]

Maple2 and esd, I had no idea when I was thinking about this the other night that so many ppl have actually had house fires. Glad you weren't hurt!