I understand. And thank you for understanding. I guess I should put up my latest thoughts on the way I decide when to do which.
Bug-out or Bug-In (aka Shelter In Place)
Staying in place has many merits to it in most situations. But there are some that call for getting away from the problem.
Where to go if you have to go? There are probably as many answers as there are people to ask them. In my opinion, there are some basic guidelines that can be followed to make things easier. The main thing is to have a workable, flexible plan. Break it down by various possibilities. From simply leaving your house or apartment for a few hours during a criminal hostage situation, to a complete, permanent relocation. Most of the things you will do are simply different in scope or magnitude. A couple of bucks for a cup of coffee at the nearest fast food place while you wait for the police to get the criminal to surrender, to arrangements for a semi to take all your possessions to a new home hundreds or thousands of miles from where you are now.
Though not 100% necessary to have already made connections at whatever destination you plan for the different scenarios, it is much better to have both ends covered before it becomes necessary to evacuate – Bug Out.
If the situation is quite localized, grabbing your basic bug out bag and going to the nearest shelter, if one is available, the house of a family member or friend, or just to a nearby motel could be adequate. The basic bug out bag should have everything you need for something this simple. Mostly some money for the accommodations, if needed, and for food, and a calling card and contact numbers so you can call people and let them know you are all right and what the situation is. You should have several different places picked out in the local area, just in case the situation encompasses one or more of them, in addition to your own place. If services are still available, and you have some money to provide the necessities, you’re set. Just arrange ahead of time with the people at the various locations to take you in temporarily. Perhaps with a mutual aid agreement. You’ll take them in if their area is disrupted for some reason.
Again, if the situation is more widespread, the arrangements are the same, you just must travel further away and/or have more equipment and supplies with you. If the relocation will be longer you need more things. Food, water, and a change of clothing. If you have to travel some distance, then a good BOV – Bug Out Vehicle should be considered. There is a forum discussing them, as well. As in the localized situation, try to have arrangements with family, friends, or establishments to take you in. If that is not possible, include shelter means in the Bug Out equipment you take with you. Again have a contact list to notify people as necessary as to your whereabouts and condition. Since it is likely that not everyone will be together when the bug out takes place, having a schedule to contact each of the various locations that you have arrangements with to see if a family member showed up at a different location than the one you could get to is in order. Some of these might just be rendezvous points, to get everyone together to head for a different destination.
Another way to work it is to have locations listed in order. If not everyone shows up at the first one within a certain timeframe, then head for the next one. Do so until everyone shows up. If a person knows they can’t get to the first one within the time frame they head for the second automatically and try to contact the first. Even if everyone must head in a different direction, they should be able to at least reach points that have contact with the other places slated as destinations. It is key to have a plan in place, and run drills so everyone knows what to do. Having multiple locations to which to go can complicate things, but I feel that it is worth it. A case of you-just-just-can’t-get-there-from-here is too likely not to have alternatives. But everyone should know what they are, where they are, and how to access them.
The further you might need to go, the longer should be the timeframes to wait for stragglers, but you can’t wait forever to head for the final destination. This type of plan will work for just about any scale of situation. The network or web is just larger and larger, as situations demand.
Children should have two or three specific places to wait for adults to get to them, and the school (or daycare, or soccer coach, babysitter, or whatever) should know that if something happens, that is what you want the children to do. (Usually better to stay at the school, but that might not always be possible.) If the school takes them to some specific point, it will be broadcast on local radio. Make sure you have a radio available. All children, no matter how young, should have a list of contact numbers on them, preferably a laminated card that authorities can use to reach the parents or designated guardian. Children can be taught to approach authority figures, ask for help, and show the card.
With rendezvous points and final destinations set for various scenarios, equipment and supplies kept packed and ready, means to travel, and a well practiced plan, a required evacuation for a forecast hurricane, or a get-out-as-fast-as-you-can disaster during a weekday, can be handled with as little stress and as much safety and efficiency as possible.
As always, this is my personal opinion and should not be taken as the last word. Anyone with general or specific questions, just post them, and I’ll respond.
Bug-in versus bug-out discussion on a forum on which I am a member
(His statements and questions are in black and mine are in red.)
In the past 2-3 years, I've come into contact with the concept of a "bug out bag" and "bugging out" on the internet, and, to be honest, I always dismissed it as more of a fringe idea. However, the more I see it discussed, the more seriously I feel I must take it and try to understand it. Help me here, though, because I just don't get it.
A Bug-out Bag, is more a concept than an actual bag. It might be a back pack, yes. Or a duffle bag. Or a tote. Or a loaded down game cart. Or simply their every day carry. Could be a quarter million dollar motor home or a bicycle. Bugging-out and Bug-out Bags are a means to an end. That of getting to safety if staying at home is not safe. Pure and simple.
To the people who have a bug out bag: Where do you think you're going to go with it?
Depends. Hopefully no further than down the street to the Peppermill Hotel/Casino for a few hours or overnight while the apartment building is being fumigated, or waiting on fire damage to be corrected in a neighbor’s aparttment. To a nearby park if here is an earthquake and the building is evacuated. Next town up the highway if there is a major gas leak, hazmat incident, or other activity that makes staying in town to uncomfortable or dangerous for a few days. Or up to the moutains for a few days for a temporary stay for similar reasons. Or to my BOL (my brother’s place) 200+ miles away.
Do you have a plan, and have you practiced this plan in the exact way that you would put it into action in the situation(s) you imagine using it?
Yes. I do have a plan. A very flexible one, with many options, dependent on the actual scenario. And yes, I have practiced almost all the elements of the plan to one degree or another, some under adverse conditions. No, I haven’t walked to the BOL with kit. But every plan to bug-out does have a destination, or two, or more.
Is everything you have in your BOB "just in case..." of whatever the imagination can contrive, or is there any evidence to support having a backpack full of the things you've chosen? By "evidence", I don't mean good reasoning and logic, though there's nothing wrong with using those; I'm asking if there were ever instances of people who "bugged out" and failed to survive due to not having a certain piece of gear that you do have.
Do I have Just In Case items in the kit? Sure I do. They come after the basic human needs.
I have some form of wealth in my kit. Look at the Jews in 1940 in Nazi Germany. Those with portable wealth were much more likely to be able to get out of the country safely. Those without warm clothes froze to death. Those with no plan and no means to take care of themselves were used and abused and eventually died or were rounded up, taken to a camp, and then killed. Consider the recent Colorado floods. People died because they didn’t have a life jacket with them. I carry a life jacket in my gear. Consider the California Rim Fire. People coming up on a flare up died because they didn’t have something as simple as a space blanket to shield them against the heat as they drove by.
Can you use every piece of gear in your bag, in the dark, in the rain, with your eyes closed? This is the lightweight backpacker in me here, as I've learned that gear is only as good as the person who can put it into action, and if not put into action, it's just dead weight, and can be an obstacle to survival due to causing extra fatigue. Ounces very quickly become pounds when packing backpacks, and there's a big difference in how quickly I can move, for example, when wearing a 10 pound backpack vs. wearing a 20 pound backpack.
All my life saving gear, yes. I can do it in the dark, while it is raining, and with my eyes closed. Using my multi-fuel stove to heat water for tea? No. To use my tomahawk to cut wood for the fire? No. I do have several means of putting light on the subject in question, which I can find and turn on in the dark, in the rain, with my eyes closed.
And the old addage that Ounces Quickly Become Pounds can be quite true. But so can the one that says Pack Light, Freeze A Night. You won’t be bugging out if there isn’t a major event going on. You aren’t out there doing a trek with the lightest gear you can find and afford. You’re trying to stay alive, no matter what the situation, until you get where you are going. That means, for me, anyway, surviving and staying healthy at minus twenty degrees, with sixty mile an hour winds, in six feet of snow. Or in the open, in one hundred twenty degree temps, without a breath of wind blowing.
Or there are people that want to have what I have, because they didn’t prepare. Or I run into a mountain lion up in the mountains. Or I am delayed by circumstance, need to detour due to brigands or authorities, or washed out bridges, or for whatever reason.
And since I can’t carry more than about ten to fifteen pounds on my back, and about twenty or twenty-five on my body, inluding clothing and every day carry, I use a game cart to carry the ‘Field Bug-out Kit/INCH kit/permanent evacuation kit. It has the short term BOB as part of it, which I would grab for the short term incidents. I would only take the game cart for long term situations, or where I will be on my own for days to months.
Lastly, why do you want to bug out, and can you cite examples, for instance from a war-torn or disaster-ridden country, where people who bugged-out had higher chances of survival than those who didn't?
Same answer here as earlier: I have some form of wealth in my kit. Look at the Jews in 1940 in Nazi Germany. Those with portable wealth were much more likely to be able to get out of the country safely. Those without warm clothes froze to death. Those with no plan and no means to take care of themselves were used and abused and eventually died or were rounded up, taken to a camp, and then killed. Consider the recent Colorado floods. People died because they didn’t have a life jacket with them. I carry a life jacket in my gear. Consider the California Rim Fire. People coming up on a flare up died because they didn’t have something as simple as a space blanket to shield them against the heat as they drove by.
What kinds of situations are bug-out situations, and what kinds of situations aren't?
Anything that is more dangerous, or likely to become unlivable if staying than leaving then I would bug-out. If there is less danger staying or living would be much more difficult leaving, which is probably going to be better than 85% of the time, then I stay until and unless that changes.
The apartment building is on fire. There is a widespread HAZMAT incident threatening the whole town. Police are on strike and MS-13 is looting, robbing, and killing people indiscriminately in their homes. There is an earthquake and the building is evacuated.
For things that I wouldn’t bug out for include a cold spell and the heat goes off as I have alternative means to stay warm and keep my supplies from freezing. One hundred and ten in the summer and the A/C is out because power is down. No need. I have what I need to avoid heat related problems and the means to deal with them if I do become overheated. There is an earthquake and there is no significant damage to the building. The Trukee River is flooding one block over but I’m on the third floor and can hold out for two months. Far more reasons to stay than to leave.
Obviously, hurricanes are best observed from many miles inland, but is a BOB required to evacuate for a hurricane?
No. A BOB is not required for evacuating from a hurricane. There is Red Cross. There are good Samaritans that will take you in and buy you food and let you take showers and give you money to get home on. There are places like the Super Dome in New Orleans. And, of course, there is FEMA… Eventually.
Or you can have a BOB with plenty of safe water, foods you like to eat, your own sleeping bag or blanket, private means for sanitation, the means to get a motel room or make your stay with family or friends as painless on you and them as possible.
Do you think that in the event of some sort of hostile military coup or martial law, that a lone civilian out in the woods, out after curfew, or otherwise wandering around a city without "papers" is going to have higher chances of survival than someone who weathers the situation in their barricaded home?
Nope. No way, shape, form, or fashion. Only those without a clue would be doing that, and they’re pretty much just out of luck.
If you had been living in Boston this past summer, would you have bugged out as soon as the police issued orders for everyone to stay in their homes, rolled out their para-military vehicles and sent SWAT teams into people's homes without warrants on the pretense of searching for some Chechen idiot, or would you have stayed in your home/complied with police orders/not rocked the boat?
I would have bugged in, locked down, monitored my communications, and let the authorities handle the problem, as long as it didn’t come to me.
If you answered that you'd do the latter, then why/how would a so-called SHTF situation be any different that you would be willing and/or able to bug out of the city?
And a repeat answer again: Anything that is more dangerous, or likely to become unlivable if staying than leaving then I would bug-out. If there is less danger staying or living would be much more difficult leaving, which is probably going to be better than 85% of the time, then I stay until and unless that changes.
Bugging out is a choice. Not an absolute. You only leave home when things will be much worse there than if you leave. And the concept includes a plan. A flexible plan. You don’t just head for the hills at the first sign of trouble and expect to live there for months or years. Yes, there are some that do plan to do just that. But they sure aren’t representative of Preppers in general. Most Preppers have thought the situation through logically and come to the same conclusion I have. Stay until you know it is better to leave, which might be immediately, or six months into a financial meltdown, and then leave as quickly as you can.
Do not make the mistake of waiting until the reason you have decided to bug-out is upon you. Whatever criteria you use to decide to stay or go should be monitored constantly. And as soon as you determine that one or more of your bug-out triggers is become more than just a chance, but quite likely, or even very possible, that I the time to bug-out. Not when whatever the trigger is actually begins. You definitely do not want to wind up coming under FEMA or Martial Law authorities because you did not bug-out when you should have. Remember Katrina during/after the Hurricane, and Boston after the bombing.
Just my opinion.
Bug-Out Trigger Events
It can be very difficult deciding when to bug out, if bugging out is one of the options in your plan to deal with a particular even that does occur.
Those that think bugging out for any and all events, especially just going into the ‘wilderness’ to survive until whatever it is has ended, will be very surprised to find that there are many others of like mind, and they will be fighting for every resource they need, and will likely be needing to protect themselves and their gear and supplies from others around them that do not have what they need. Unfortunately for the eventual recovery, this number is fairly high. It is unlikely they will be able to survive and be of any help in rebuilding society and civilization after the event ends.
And even those that do have a BOL or other alternative to which they can go, might be better off staying at home in the majority of situations. You might not be able to go, due to blocked roads, government edicts, non-functional transportation, and many other reasons. So having what you need to bug-in or shelter-in-place is important.
Now some people simply cannot have what they need to survive well where they live, and bugging out may have to be a more likely choice for them that for those that can have a good set of gear and supplies at home. (Note: Not all of these should be inside the home. Have some cached on the property and other places nearby in case the house is destroyed, or you cannot access the items inside for some reason.
But if you can do what is necessary to bug-in, that is far more often than not the best choice in the majority of situations. Not all, of course. There are some that call for immediate or staged evacuation. And sometime you do not have much choice, even if you are prepared and would be just fine staying, but the government orders a mandatory evacuation. If you stay, and they do find you during or after the event, you could wind up in trouble, the least of which would be placed into one of the FEMA camps or whatever variation they have for that situation. That is not a good place to be.
Having access to all of your gear and supplies, even if you have to camp out in your yard due to the house not being safe, is much better than taking just a car load (and maybe trailer), much less just a back pack, with what can be carried in them. You will never have many of the resources that you will likely need at the time, if you are not at home.
So, you have decided that you will monitor the local, state, national, international, and space happenings so you will know at the earliest possible moment if a situation is developing or becoming likely. There are things which will happen where you have no warning at all. Sometimes that makes the decision easier, and sometimes harder. And as you continue to monitor, by whatever means you have available, you continue at home, watching for any of your triggers that would prompt you to leave.
I am a bit reluctant to say it, but you cannot always depend on the local authorities to decide on a timely basis when to order an evacuation. They have a tendency to wait & see, many times waiting too long to order an evacuation, mostly due to financial concerns and hoping to avoid a panic, and it then becomes almost impossible for many people to evacuate because of so many trying at one time.
Watching for your triggers for which ever event is about to take place and then acting on them will put you well ahead of the rest of the fleeing masses. In evacuations it is almost always better to be in the lead than lagging behind. For many reasons.
The triggers will be different for just about everyone. They will depend on your prepping ability and capabilities, environmental factors, weather factors, and so on. Since the triggers will be different for different types of disasters and events, a good way to decide on triggers is to determine what your community or area is subject to, and look at them with a critical eye. Certain things will pop out as a warning that you do not want to be around when that happens.
Here are some possible triggers (some mine, some from other people).
Some examples of events and possible bug-out triggers:
1. Major economic event
a. A bank holiday is declared
b. Withdrawals are limited
c. The stock market is closed
d. The DOW reaches a set number you have decided is the danger point
e. The rest of the world drops the dollar for another reserve.
2. Major and widespread Social unrest
a. Looting & riots are spreading outside their normal boundaries
b. General crime and lawlessness gets more prevalent and more violent
3. Major and dangerous weather events
a. Approaching hurricanes (usually Cat 3 and higher)
b. Tornado likelihood and/or watch or alert
c. Forecast of extreme cold and winds
d. Any extreme or abnormal weather activites
4. Regional/national/international Events
a. Martial Law is declared
b. Travel restrictions are instituted
c. Internet up & down often or down for long periods
d. Trucking and/or rail traffic stopped moving
e. Brown-outs or Rolling/accidental blackouts
5. Local events
a. Local power outage past a set number of days
b. Curfews ordered and enforced
c. Boil water or do not drink water order
d. Activation of the local EOC
These are just a few examples. Look at what is most likely to occur in your area and set up triggers for them. After that you can continue to brainstorm other events that might occur.
A bug-out/bug-in decision vignette
You live in a large city near a long dormant, but awakening volcano. The USGS has set up monitoring equipment to keep an eye on the situation. Geological evidence indicates the volcano tends to erupt with great force, launching lava bombs for thousands of yards, though there is usually only moderate lava flow. The biggest dangers are a large initial pyroclastic flow, then huge amounts of additional ash, and continuous releases of poisonous gasses.
What equipment and supplies do you have (or would plan to have) to deal with the situation, and what is your plan of what to do when the warning sirens sound?
My fictional vignette about the volcano scenario:
Bug Out! - Volcano
Sam was happy with his life. He was sure his wife, Peggy, and his two children, Ralph, 17, and Melissa, 16, were too. His job was going well and so was Peggy’s. Ralph and Melissa had annuities set up for their college educations. The two quadra-plexes in the town near their retirement property were paying for themselves and generating a nice supplemental income.
The retirement property was paid for and the well and septic system were installed. A large earth sheltered building that was pump house, garage, and shop was already built. It had a full bathroom and a work sink as part of the equipment. The foundation for the house was poured. The materials to build the house, a small earth sheltered concrete dome, were stored in the garage and shop. He and Peggy would live in the garage and shop until they finished construction of the house. That would be after Melissa graduated from high school and went off to college.
The house here in the city was in good condition and was appreciating in value. When they moved into the retirement house when it was completed, the sale of the current house would finish off the retirement package they’d set up over time. “Just three more years,” he muttered to himself, eyes going to the volcano in the distance as he drove in to the office where he worked. “Just keep your lid on three more years and we’ll be out of here.” The volcano didn’t respond. The cloud of steam just hung there like it had been doing for the last two years as he drove his four-wheel-drive Ford Ranger into the parking lot of the office building where he worked.
It was almost noon when the sirens sounded. Someone turned on the radio in the office. The volcano was making noises, and the city was being put on alert for a possible evacuation. Sam had found out everything he could about the volcano when they first moved to the area. It had been dormant then. The little activity the last few years had been considered only a minor danger. But he knew that if the volcano erupted, it was the type that could dump a pyroclastic flow onto the city in only minutes if it erupted big time. It wasn’t something you took a chance with.
He knocked on his boss’s door. “Mike,” he said, when he was motioned into the office. “from the report on the radio they haven’t ordered the evacuation yet, but I don’t plan on waiting. I hope you understand. I’m taking off now.”
Mike frowned. “Well, I can’t stop you, of course, but we’re going to have a serious talk about this when you get back. You’ve been a good employee for a long time, but I can’t let something like this just pass. See me when you come back after this scare is over.”
“Yes, sir.” Sam didn’t wait. He grabbed the small backpack he kept in the bottom right hand drawer of his desk. He wanted the items the small pack contained with him. There was one similar to it in the Ranger, but he wasn’t going to take any chances at all.
Sam kept the broadcast radio in the Ranger turned on. The station was giving announcements about the volcano. The authorities were encouraging people to get prepared to evacuate, but the order to actually leave had not yet been given. Apparently there was already a mob scene at several of the schools. People wanted their children with them.
Sam suddenly had to whip the truck to the right. Someone had cut into his lane to pass, speeding on the way to somewhere. Sam didn’t worry about his kids. At least not very much. They’d run drills for this before. As soon as the school dismissed them, they would meet up and head for the house in Ralph’s old Honda Civic. Taking a lot more care than some of those on the road right now, Sam was sure. They were responsible kids.
When he tried to get Peggy on her cell phone he got the rapid busy. Probably a third of the cell phones in the city were talking to another third. Sam checked the dashboard clock. If Peggy, or the kids, couldn’t make it home by two, which was just a little over two hours after the initial warning, they would all head for the first designated rendezvous point other than the house.
When he pulled into the drive at his house, his neighbor Harry was out watering the lawn. Harry called over to Sam, grinning. “You’re home early. This is just an alert, Sam. Like that drill they had last year. Just want to wake people up, just in case.”
Sam wouldn’t argue the point. When the ground shook just a little and the volcano belched a little more steam than usual, Harry looked a bit unsure of himself. “Of course, getting ready wouldn’t be a bad idea,” he said, heading for his garage.
“Right,” Sam muttered. “That’s just what I’m doing.” Sam opened both garage doors, then unsnapped and removed the bedcover of the Ranger pickup truck. The bed was empty.
Working quickly, Sam began loading shipping containers from the shelving system in the garage into the truck. The heavy-duty containers held equipment and supplies to support Sam and his family for at least a month. There was a years supply at the retirement property, cached, just in case of a break in.
He had the radio in the garage going. Still just the occasional update about the situation. And calls for the citizens of the city not to panic. Sam checked his watch again. High school students were being sent home. Students in lower grades were if the parents could be contacted. The rest would be cared for at the schools until the normal dismissal time or their parents came for them earlier. He glanced down the street. Ralph and Melissa should be getting here soon.
The truck bed loaded to capacity, he closed the tailgate. It didn’t take long to arrange a tarp over the load and fasten it in space with a tie down net. Going to a rack on the wall, Sam carried a custom built rack back to the Ranger and inserted the support tube into the receiver hitch under the step bumper and locked it into place.
Sam took out his set of keys for the four-wheel-drive Suburban that was in the other side of the garage and started it up. It took a couple of tries to get it centered under the two long, streamlined cargo containers suspended from the ceiling of the garage.
Once it was centered though, it took only a couple of minutes each to lower the containers onto the roof rack of the Suburban and latch them into place. They were already loaded with equipment and supplies, just as the shipping cases he’d loaded into the truck had been.
He pinned a removable cargo rack similar to the one for the Ranger onto the mount on the rear of the Suburban, then went to the small metal storage shed at the rear of the lot. He moved ten 5-gallon fuel cans and four 5-gallon water cans to the vehicles. Five cans of fuel and two of water went onto the racks he’d just installed on the vehicles.
Now for the inside stuff. The gun safe in the big walk-in closet of his and Peggy’s bedroom was quickly emptied of its few firearms, and a group of cases. The cases contained important papers, keepsakes, and valuables. Part went into the Suburban, the rest into a steel box that was installed behind the seats of the Ranger.
He’d been glancing at the street often the last few minutes. He breathed a sigh of relief when Ralph pulled up in the Civic and he and Melissa got out.
“We’ve got another thirty minutes to wait for Mom. Load your bug out bags, then take your time and pack up secondary items,” Sam told them.
“This isn’t just going to be a drill this time, is it?” Ralph asked.
“I don’t know, son. I don’t know. But we are not taking any chances.” Sam glanced up and down the street. There didn’t seem to be anyone else attempting to get ready to evacuate. Not even Harry.
Ralph and Melissa both had their bug out kits in the Suburban and were gathering up a few more things. He started to caution them about what to take and not take, but decided to leave them alone. Their choices might not be perfect, but they were taking pains to think about items before they loaded them up. He looked around himself and decided on a couple of not really required items and took them out to the Suburban.
“It’s almost time. We probably should have already suited up. Get your Tyvek suits on and keep your respirators with you.” With a bit of pride he noted that both of them had laid out the clothing and equipment, ready to don it in a hurry. It took them less than two minutes to be suited and booted, their respirator bags strapped to their thighs.
“Daddy?” Melissa said, giving Sam a quizzical look.
Sam suddenly looked down at himself and said, “Oh, Jeez!” He quickly went to the bedroom and donned his own white Tyvek suit and steel toed rubber boots. He handed Peggy’s hazmat equipment bag to Melissa to take to the Suburban. Peggy had a Tyvek suit in her daypack, but only a simple dust respirator and pair of safety goggles, not the full-face respirator in the hazmat bag. Peggy only had a pair of athletic shoes in her daypack to replace the pumps she wore to work.
“It’s been two hours and ten minutes since the alarm sounded,” Ralph said, looking at his watch.
“Yeah. We can’t wait here for Mom. We’ll pick her up at the rendezvous,” Sam said.
Peggy was carpooling with Elizabeth today, and Sam had suspected that Peggy wouldn’t be able to talk Elizabeth into leaving work early. It would be easier for her to catch a cab or some kind of ride, walk if necessary, to the fast food joint just on the edge of the city on their main route out.
“Okay, Ralph,” Sam said. “You’ve got the Suburban. You ride shotgun with him Melissa, until we pick up Mom. Melissa, you pull the Civic into the garage when Ralph pulls out.”
It was the work of only a few moments for the switch to be made and for them to hit the road, Sam in the lead in the Ranger. Sam didn’t realize he was so tense until he noticed his knuckles were white on the steering wheel of the truck. He made himself relax, reassuring himself that Peggy would be at the rendezvous. That worry wasn’t the only thing contributing to the tenseness. There was some really bad driving going on.
The traffic on the routes out of the city didn’t look that much heavier than the traffic into the city and on the city streets. The driving going all directions seemed equally poor.
Sam said a little prayer to himself when he saw the white Tyvek clad figure sitting on a sign support at the fast food restaurant. Peggy was swinging her legs back and forth, bouncing the rubber heels of her athletic shoes against the concrete. The dust mask was hanging down around her neck, the goggles projecting from a pocket.
“Been getting a few looks,” Peggy said with a smile as the family reunited. “due to my apparel, I think.”
The others laughed as they shared hugs. “You remember the new photo album?” she asked Sam after the quick reunion was over.
“Yep,” Sam said. “I added it to the others in the case from the safe. “Let’s get on the road before traffic gets any crazier than it is.”
“When I was inside people couldn’t make up their minds about whether to stay or go. I’m glad we’re going. Have you felt the temblors?” Suddenly the ground was shaking again. Enough to feel, but not that bad.
“Yes,” Sam said. “Let’s go.”
The traffic thinned out not long after they left the city limits and the little convoy pulled into a service station to refuel. They had plenty of spare fuel, but the plan called for refueling the first chance they could, every time the tanks dropped below half full. Only when they couldn’t get additional fuel would they use the extra fuel they carried.
When they got near a small town several miles from the city, Ralph called Sam on the Family Radio Band hand held radios each of them carried on their belt. “We doing plan Charlie? Mom wants to know.”
Melissa lifted her radio and looked at Sam. “I think not. Nothing seems to be happening. Let’s stop at that place up ahead and get rooms. Monitor things and find out what’s happening. The radio isn’t saying much about the situation right now.”
Melissa keyed the radio and relayed Sam’s remarks. Ralph held his radio so Peggy could hear it easily. When Peggy nodded, Ralph keyed up and said, “That’s a go.”
Melissa grinned. “Ralph loves these radios.”
Sam had to smile. They could only talk about a mile on the radios, maybe two under perfect conditions, but they got the job done and not too many people were likely to hear them with that short of a range. Still, Sam and Peggy had trained themselves and the children to use some code words for certain communications.
If they’d gone to Plan Charlie they would stop in the town they were passing now. They owned a quarter acre lot in an area that wasn’t going to be developed for some time. There was a good gravel road going past the lot at the moment. It would eventually be a street. The ground was kind of rolling so it had been easy to have a 40 foot connex shipping container delivered to the site, then mound it over with earth. If you didn’t know something was there, you’d just think that particular mound was part of the terrain.
The family had three places like that, spaced several miles from the city in three different directions. There were caches of equipment and supplies buried near the shelters. If need be, they could stop there and be quite comfortable. And safe. They were really only stops on the way to the final destination, which was the retirement property they’d bought so long ago, partly for this very reason.
The town lots would be sold, like the house in the city, and new properties acquired on routes out from the retirement property when they moved there.
It was still early afternoon when they found a good place to stop. Turned out they weren’t the only ones that had left the city before the evacuation had been called for. They’d heard the report just before they stopped. A full evacuation had been ordered for the city and areas surrounding the volcano. When Peggy was registering them in, she heard another couple talking about how glad they were they’d left early.
They got two rooms, one for Sam and Peggy and one with two queens for the kids. The vehicles were moved over by the rooms.
They ate an early supper at the restaurant next door to the motel, then went to Sam and Peggy’s room to watch the news. The evacuation was not going well. Even though it was still early, they all decided to go to bed. They would get up at six the next morning, breakfast, and get back on the road.
It was a well built motel. They neither felt nor heard the eruption when it took place that night shortly after midnight. They saw it on the news the next morning.
The city and surrounding area had a population of almost a million people. Many had left by the time the eruption took place. Most had not. Of the estimated 750,000 people left in the affected area, almost 400,000 were killed by the effects of the eruption. Most died when the massive pyroclastic flow spread out over much of the city. It took less than five minutes. There was some lava flow, but it was relatively minor. But many were killed directly by lava bombs, more by the fires they started. Ash and fumes got the rest.
White faces looked at one another as they sat in their pajamas in front of the television that morning. The news camera helicopters were already flying over the area. They didn’t see their house, but they did see several houses in the same area. They looked scorched, but were still standing. Their area had been at the furthest reaches of where the pyroclastic flow had traveled before it dissipated.
Sam thought for a long time before he spoke. “We need to make a decision,” he said. “I had fully intended to go up to the property, no matter what, until things calmed down. We’d be fine there.”
“But the danger is over now. People are going to need help aren’t they?” Peggy asked.
Sam nodded. Sam and Peggy both looked at their children. “Red Cross will need all the volunteers they can get,” Ralph said.
Melissa agreed. “As long as the house is okay, and the danger is over, I don’t mind going back to help.”
“There is no guarantee that all the danger is over, but you heard the scientists. They don’t think there’ll be another large scale eruption for a long time,” Sam replied.
“The way it stacks up,” he continued, “is that we can go back and stay at the bug out stop until things settle down. Or we can go on up to the property. We can stay there until things settle down, or we can go ahead and start building the house and stay permanently. Enroll you two in the school in town there. Or we can give it a day, then go back home and do what we can to help.”
The decision was affected by another news announcement. The city had been sealed off, except for rescue teams. No one was being allowed in at the moment.
“I think,” Peggy said, “in light of that, we should go on up to the property and set up for an extended stay. As soon as they start letting people back in, we go back and help where we can.”
“Kids?” Sam asked.
Melissa and Ralph looked at one another for a moment, then both looked at their parents and nodded.
“That’s the plan then. We’ll go back when the authorities say we can go back. They’re bound to have alternate arrangements for school. Whether Peggy and I have jobs when we go back is something of a moot point. If not, we’ll just find something else. The rebuilding is bound to take a lot of people.”
With the decision made, they got dressed, had breakfast, and were on their way to the retirement property. It was almost two weeks before the government began allowing people back into the city. Sam’s old firm no longer existed. He got a job with FEMA, working as an office manager in their assistance office. Peggy worked as a file clerk and data entry person in a similar office on the other side of the ruined city.
Their house had a quite a bit of damage, but they were able to make it livable, using their camping and emergency preparedness equipment. An alternate school was set up and Ralph and Melissa attended the abbreviated classes. They helped where they could, working with a youth brigade set up by the Red Cross when they weren’t in school.
The massive aid effort lasted for a year. Electrical power was restored the first month, but it was months before the water and sewer systems were restored in many areas. There were daily water deliveries and waste pickups conducted by the National Guard in the areas without those services, so they continued to stay in the house until it, like every other one in the area, was condemned.
It was going to be too expensive to restore full services to all areas. The housing wasn’t needed, anyway. It would be decades before the population ever grew to what it had been before the eruption, if it ever did. The volcano continued to vent vapors. Sam and Peggy took the compensation for their house and decided to retire early. They rented an apartment until Melissa graduated from high school the following year, then they headed for their property once again. During that summer before Melissa went off to college, she stayed with them on the property to help with the construction of the house. Ralph came in from college and did the same.
By the time their two children headed to college that fall, Sam and Peggy were ensconced in their new home. The garden plot was ready to absorb the winter snow moisture, and Sam had bought a Bobcat 5600T Toolcat with many of the available attachments to work the garden and do a little side work around the area to stay busy. There was a lot of new construction going on in the area.
Sam and Peggy started something of a trend with their near disaster proof place. Many more people moved into the area with the same idea. Sam bought a franchise to build dome homes like the one he’d built and supplemented their retirement income with one or two sales a year.
All in all, a good plan, proper equipment and supplies, the willingness to use them, and a little luck, had brought them through dangerous times.
Just my opinion.
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