Your Mom and I had dinner at St. Anna last week with Marjorie and Alan “D”. They were at the end of a trip that started with a family reunion in Michigan.
Marjorie and Alan live northeast of San Diego. In recent months, wild fires have ravaged their area. San Diego was threatened when the winds blew from the east off the hot desert driving fire towards their condo community. Everybody was advised to evacuate. Marjorie and Alan were not allowed back in for over 4 days. Their condo was spared but they were several blocks from major damage.
The question is “if you were forced to evacuate your home in an emergency situation, what personal items would you take with you”?
Some things are self evident. Save loved ones and yourself first. Nothing is worth putting your lives at risk.
I know animals are top priority. Katy, Indigo, Penny, Casper and LeRoy would be on that list (and others).
Immediate personal items that allow you to function would be important. Things like cash, credit cards, and insurance ID cards would be nice (even if you forgot these items, they are replaceable however).
Important papers like insurance policies, financial papers (including Wills, Trusts and Powers of Attorney) and important license information are on my list.
A few days worth of clothing would be nice.
And then there is the “information” glut. You know, computer software that has all your personal infor. There are the pictures. Yep, the pictures. The gigabytes and gigabytes of pictures. People pictures. Animal pictures. Trip pictures. Stupid pictures. And more pictures. By some accounts the pictures are treasures and not replaceable.
Then of course are the family heirlooms. They too include pictures but there are pieces of furniture, jewelry and clothing.
Losing your home does make you think. I’m sure I missed something that is really important that should have been included. It doesn’t matter. It is your list. Your priority. What would you include? Grabbing the car keys would be nice. Oops, don’t forget the big screen TV, iPads, iPods and cell phones. I know I forgot something!
Love,
Dad