06.08.10
Evacuation and Recovery
Although we all hope the day never comes, odds are we will have to evacuate for a storm at some point while living along Florida’s beautiful coasts. Scenes of past evacuations on the news make it seem like complete chaos, but it doesn’t need to be that way. The theme in all of our preparation stories has been to have a plan; why wouldn’t you have an evacuation plan too?
The first step is to determine if you live in a mandatory evacuation zone. There are several resources for this and I’ve linked them all here.
http://www.santarosa.fl.gov/gis/index.html
http://www.co.escambia.fl.us/Bureaus/PublicSafety/
http://www.co.okaloosa.fl.us/dept_ps.html
http://www.co.bay.fl.us/emergency/management.php
http://www.co.walton.fl.us/index.aspx?nid=449
http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/emerg/
Even if you are not in a mandatory evacuation zone you still may want to leave the area. Remember evacuation zones are designated based on storm surge not winds.
So if you want to get out of town you’ll need to plan a few things. It’s essential to be flexible since the evacuation route will be determined based on path of the storm. Have a couple destinations picked out ahead of any storm.
Next build a list of hotels, hospitals, restaurants, pet shelters etc. for each location. That will speed up the process of getting settled into your evacuation location. Have the phone numbers for each of those establishments included on the list.
If a storm is approaching and you expect an evacuation try to make any reservations as you need before you leave. That way you are assured a spot at your desired location. Remember to be flexible, if hotels are full move to your plan B.
Make sure you have a full tank of gas and maybe even a spare gas can that is full before you depart. There will be little time to stop and gas becomes a scarce resource when an evacuation order is issued.
Now that you’ve successfully evacuated you can begin the next phase of the operation. You’ll have to plan on recovery. Again, have a plan on what you are going to do once you return to your property. There could be no power so plan on ways to live without it for at least 3 days. Also have phone numbers for you insurance company, bank, doctor and place of employment handy. These organizations and people will want to know the status of you and your property.
Last but not least, go into the recovery phase expecting some damage. Have a list of local contractors to call that can be there to begin repairs. Here at Vanderheyden Inc. we are not just there at the beginning of a storm, we are there for you after as well. There are not many companies like ours that offer before and after storm services. In fact this is where a lot of good people go wrong, they’ve planned all the way up to the storm but failed to have a recovery plan. They then fall victim to fly-by-nite operations that come in after a storm to try to make a quick dollar. Use a reputable local company like Vanderheyden Inc.’s Coastal Storm Shutters to protect your property today!