Items to Take With You When You Evacuate

Editor's Note: Alice Weiss, whose Slidell home was hit by Hurricane Katrina, used her own experiences to compile this list of items needed for cleanup the next time a storm hits. Weiss advises folks to get these items before they leave the area, or before they return, as the items may not be available when they return.

1. Cash - at least $1,000 per family member, if possible. If power and phone lines go out in your area, banks and ATMs will be closed, and stores and gas stations that reopen will not be able to process charge cards. Also, businesses outside the affected area may refuse to take your checks or credit cards or debit cards. Banks outside the area may have huge lines of evacuees trying to get cash.

2. Files: if you evacuate, take these things with you. If you don't evacuate, make sure they are protected from wind and water. Protect or take with you all files related to:

a. house purchase
b. car purchase
c. homeowner's insurance
d. car insurance
e. bank accounts
e. credit cards
f. investment accounts
g. all manuals for all appliances (if you save these)
h. photos or videos of your property
i. address book with phone numbers and addresses of everyone, including bank, broker, insurance agent, etc.
j. funeral plans or cemetery deeds
k. personal identification (passports, birth certificates, drivers licenses, social security cards, military records)
l. medical records (vaccination, surgery, x-rays, prescription history)
m. retirement accounts
n. school records (certifications, transcripts, diplomas)
o. legal records (divorce decrees, marriage license, powers-of-attorney, guardianship)

3. If you have pets, take all their veterinary records. Get a copy from your vet if you don't have them at home. Take pet food and litter -- enough to last a week.

4. Medications. You should take all prescribed medications and copies of prescriptions with you if you evacuate.

5. Take a cooler with you in the car filled with food and drink to last at least a day, as it is not inconceivable that you may have to drive for many miles before you find a gas station or restaurant that is not sold out due to hordes of other evacuees having gotten there before you.

6. If possible, take a filled 5-gallon gas can in the trunk of your car. You may not be able to get gas for several hundred miles.

7. Space bags - have at least a dozen large and a dozen medium sizes available. Place towels, sheets, bedding, valuable clothing items, collectibles and shoes in them and put them as high as possible in your home. If you seal them properly, they will remain airtight, even if the house floods. Items inside may develop a moldy smell, but only if you aren't able to get back to the house within a week. The longer they stay in the house, the more likely the items will begin to smell.

8. Large plastic bins -- at least six bins. Useful for storing items inside the house before the storm if you place them somewhere high. But remember that they are not watertight.

9. You should take everything that is precious to you or irreplaceable or that you will need right away and might not be able to buy after you evacuate. This includes:

a. computers (don't forget backup drives or discs)
b. cameras
c. high-end stereo or video equipment
d. all photographs and slides, important family heirlooms (quilts, jewelry)
e. bottled water
f. musical instruments
g. all important computer software
h. important CDs or DVDs (e.g. family videos or CDs with photos)
i. address book
j. batteries -- regular and rechargeable (don’t forget the charger)
k. cell phones and chargers
l. books you absolutely can't live without and can't replace (family bible, school yearbooks)

10. Take at least one week’s worth of clothes for every member of the family. Don't just take casual clothes, take at least one or two dressy items and good shoes, too. This may be all the clothes you have left if disaster hits your home.

11. Also take toys if you have small children or pets.

Items You Will Need When You Return to Your Damaged Home or if You Choose Not to Evacuate

All of these items will be unavailable locally or within 200 miles after the storm.

1. Rubber boots (essential).

2. Face masks -- get the good ones with replaceable filters or the heavy quilted ones available at paint stores. Have at least a dozen filters or a dozen masks available.

3. Heavy-duty rubber gloves. Kitchen gloves are not good enough for salvaging. Broken glass will slice right through kitchen gloves. Get these at a hardware store. They only come in size large for men, so women need to buy cotton gardening gloves, preferably the ones with elastic wristbands, to wear underneath so the rubber gloves stay put.

4. Kitchen rubber gloves -- needed for cleaning up muddy items after salvaging them.

5. Paper towels -- at least a dozen rolls.

6. Toilet paper.

7. Tarps -- to lay wet items on outside to dry them off before putting them in your car. Also to lay in your car before putting moldy, wet items in it. This will help keep the smell from getting in your car and staying there.

8. Sweatbands -- at least a dozen.

9. Antiseptic wet wipes -- to clean yourself and households items such as the toilet seat.

10. Febreeze -- at least four bottles to spray moldy items to minimize the smell before hauling them off elsewhere.

11. Dish soap and antiseptic hand soap -- at least four bottles and bars for washing down muddy items and cleaning your hands.

12. Large and small soft sponges -- for wiping off silt.

13. Toothbrushes or small narrow cleaning brush -- for removing stubborn silt from items.

14. Clorox -- at least a dozen large bottles for sterilizing items.

15. Clorox Soft Scrub -- at least six bottles for cleaning items after the storm.

16. Water hose and high-pressure spray nozzle -- for washing mold and dirt off larger items and floors/carports.

17. Buckets -- at least four buckets for removing water that has filled up drawers, pots, etc.

18. Mops and brooms and dustpans -- several of each.

19. Broom -- a heavy-duty 2-f00t-wide push-broom with a heavy-duty squeegee on one side. You can get this at a hardware store. This is essential for sweeping mud out of your house and garage/carport.

20. Towels -- lots of cheap bath-size and hand-size towels for soaking up your sweat. Throw them away when no longer needed.

21. Water -- have at least 6 large water jugs (the kind that fit in professional water dispensers) if you are not going to evacuate. They will come in handy afterwards during cleanup as well. Local water may not be drinkable for several weeks without boiling. A case or two of bottled water will also come in very handy.

22. Water purification materials.

23. Coolers. Have several large coolers. If you evacuate, take one with you in the car filled with food and drink to last at least a day.

24. Gas cans -- have several 5-gallon gas cans available. If power is out in your area, gas stations can't pump gas. If there is a lot of damage (downed trees and power lines and debris everywhere), then gas companies can't deliver gas and the stations will run out. They will probably run out the day before when everyone fills up prior to evacuating.

25. Generators -- If you have a gasoline-powered generator, you'd better be prepared to run out of gas to run it. Propane- or natural gas-powered generators are preferable. Be sure to lock the generator down securely in some way -- chains or concrete or both. After a hurricane people will steal generators before they will steal food. Many people in Louisiana died of carbon monoxide poisoning when they tried to avoid this by moving the generator inside and failing to properly vent it.

26. Sand bags -- have at least a dozen available. These are useful for weighing down tall pieces of furniture or the refrigerator to keep them from falling over in wind or flooding.

27. Bug spray for indoors and personal use, especially for ants and mosquitoes. I recommend Deep Woods Off.

28. Concrete blocks. Have enough available to place a double row underneath furniture that you don't want to get wet from flooding, such as sofas, beds, chests of drawers, dining room tables, etc. Don't wait to buy these at the last minute -- all local stores will be sold out.

29. Contractor-strength trash bags. Have at least 100 of these. These are essential.

30. Tools -- Have a tool box with screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers, hammers, cordless drill, needle-nose pliers, utility knife (and spare blades) and a set of Allen wrenches. Also, other very important tools are a pry bar and a crowbar. You may have to break into the house when you return.

31. Clothes line and clothes pins. Heavy items such as bedspreads or area rugs that get wet may need to be hung outside to dry before being taken away. This is not essential but might come in handy.

32. Bungie cords -- have many in all sizes. These are useful before the storm for securing outside items such as patio furniture or trash cans to fences or other immovable anchors. They are also useful after the storm for securing items on top of your car that you want to remove.

33. Large plastic bins -- at least 6. Useful for transporting small items elsewhere after the storm in your car.

34. Camp chairs -- If you return to a damaged house and will be spending the day salvaging items, you will need a couple of camp chairs to rest in since you can't sit on any of the furniture and you don’t want to sit in your hot car in smelly, muddy clothes..

35. Spare clothing -- A day spent salvaging items will leave you filthy and dripping wet. Take a change of clothing, including underwear. Better yet, take two changes.

36. Bath powder -- useful for feeling good and cleaning up after spending a day salvaging in 99-degree heat.

37. Batteries -- Everyone knows to keep a lot of spare batteries available. Take them with you if you evacuate, because if you leave them at home and they get wet, they are useless. Remember that your cell phone battery can't be recharged if your house has no electricity, and you can't charge it in the car if your car has no gas and you can't buy gas anywhere. Consider investing in a solar battery recharger and rechargeable batteries.

38. Non-cordless telephone -- If power is out but telephone lines are working, you will need at least one of these.

39. Camping gear -- If you can't live in the house and can't get out of the area due to downed trees, power lines and debris, you may have to camp out. This is an extreme scenario, but it's best to be prepared. Have a good waterproof tent, ground cloth, air mattresses and whatever else you think you will need to stay comfortable.

40. Medications -- If you don't evacuate, secure these items somewhere safe and hopefully watertight (a space bag is a good idea).

41. A first aid kit with lots of band-aids, bandages, medical tape, antibiotic creams, sunburn lotion, sunscreen, etc. -- These things will be unavailable locally for some time after the storm, particularly the sunscreen and sunburn lotion.

42. Baby items -- If you have a baby, you'd better have a lot of food and diapers and formula and baby wipes available, as these items will be unavailable locally except from Red Cross or National Guard emergency sites, which may not be set up for at least a week.

43. Pet food and litter -- This will be unavailable locally for some time, although free distribution sites will be set up eventually by concerned animal protection agencies.

Be prepared to be unable to purchase every-day items for several months after a hurricane. For example: mini blinds in standard sizes, irons, toasters, microwaves, towels, Clorox, trash bags, laundry detergent, bottled water.

I strongly suggest you purchase a car carrier for the top of your car, unless you have a full-size van or pickup truck. If your car or van has a trailer hitch, invest in a small trailer that can be pulled behind. If your vehicle does not have a trailer hitch, I strongly suggest you install one NOW, as this will come in extremely handy both before and after a hurricane. You can haul more stuff away when you evacuate, and you can haul more stuff away if you have to salvage items from the house.

You will not be able to rent a truck or storage space after a hurricane within 200 miles of where you live. Be prepared for this.

Phone lines will be down throughout the area, and even where they are not down regular phone service will not work. Of course, this will also affect internet access. You may be able to call out, but nobody maybe be able to call in. Cell phone service will also be disrupted. However, text messaging will work just fine.

Unless you evacuate more than 3 days before the storm, you will not be able to find a motel room within 600 miles of your home. Be prepared for this. Try to find a motel or camp site or RV park now that is at least 100 miles away and which will allow you to reserve space at least 5 days before the storm. You will have to reserve it with a credit card, and may lose some money if you don't end up evacuating, but better safe than sorry.

Don't wait until the last minute to evacuate. Leave at least 2 days ahead of time or you will get stuck in horrendous traffic and will probably run out of gas before you can find a gas station that has any.

If your home is uninhabitable you may need to find an apartment. You'd better do this immediately, as all apartments will be rented within a week of the storm. If you are out of the state, you won't be able to call a local apartment complex to find one. If you find one, you may need to put down 6 months rent in advance or else wait several days while they do a background check. Make a list of apartment buildings in a nearby area that have email addresses, as this may be the only way to contact them from out of state. A good idea would be to take a couple of phone books with you when you evacuate for cities in your vicinity, as you can use these to find an apartment complex.

If you have more than one car and will evacuate in only one car, be prepared to lose the cars or vehicles you leave behind. FEMA and flood insurance will only reimburse you for your primary vehicle, and not for other family vehicles damaged by flooding or wind or debris. If possible, park your other vehicles in the highest ground you can find in your area and leave them there. Leave a card with your name and contact info inside in case they are damaged and hauled away while you are gone.

Completely clean out your refrigerator before you evacuate. Throw away everything. If the power is out for more than two days, it will all spoil anyway, and cleanup after a week without power is indescribably stinky.

Remove all grains from the pantry. This includes all pasta, rice, cereals, crackers, cookies, cake mixes and dry food or sauce mixes. If these items get wet or even damp, they will swell up and turn into a very nasty stinky mess that attracts millions of bugs, including swarms of tiny flies.

If you have any expensive power tools or small appliances, such as chain saws, table saws, circular saws, power drills, take them with you, as they will not work after they are submerged in flood water. Some tool manufacturers sell tools with sealed motors. In the future, invest in these types only.

You should be able to salve all items made of glazed ceramic (dishes, vases, casseroles), plastic (tupperware, utensils), stainless steel (silverware) and glass. Good kitchen knives were rusted past help, and the wooden handles were swollen with water. Kitchen pots and frying pans will be OK if they do not have wooden handles.

Rattan and wicker items should be okay after spraying with diluted Clorox and then Febreeze and setting out in the sun for a couple of days, but bamboo items get moldy from the inside out and can rarely be saved.

Be prepared to find live snakes, frogs and crawfish and dead fish inside your house if it floods. Also dead animals, if you leave any pets behind.

To clean everything afterwards, you should fill the bathtub with very hot water, add 1 cup of Clorox, let the items soak covered for 30 minutes, then scrub with sponges, Clorox Soft Scrub or dish detergent, then set outside in the sun for at least 1 day. Silt will not wash off with water. It will stick to everything like glue, and this is why you need sponges and toothbrushes to get the silt out of tiny lines or patterns. You will need to use kitchen rubber gloves and wear a face mask while doing this, and open a window if there is one in the bathroom.