Fight or Flight
One of the most frightening moments for a homeowner is when local authorities issue an evacuation order. Disaster is imminent and you find yourself in a fight or flight situation as you are forced to make a decision very much in line with what The Clash once famously asked, “Should I stay or should I go?” The type of disaster you are facing greatly influences the decision-making process.
It is vital to listen to your local authorities as they update you regarding the status of a pending or ongoing natural disaster. It’s also important to consider how you will respond to an evacuation order once it comes in. Many who were devastated by Hurricane Michael did not evacuate because the storm gained strength overnight and by the time coastal residents who had not evacuated woke up it was already too late to evacuate. For people living in the Bahamas, evacuating might not have been an option with Dorian, and the images coming in from there are heartbreaking.
Hurricanes pose so many risks, and one of the most deadly is storm surge. Former FEMA director Brock Long said, “Those who fail to evacuate and heed the warning for evacuation, and experience the storm surge, don’t live to tell about it.” You can hear the terror in the voices of people riding out the storm surge in the Bahamas. In situations where you could have evacuated, but made the choice to stay, not only are you risking your life by staying, you also risk the lives of the people who come to rescue you.
How you handle a mandatory hurricane evacuation order may be different than one for a wildfire or a tornado. Many homeowners we spoke with after last year’s wildfire in Malibu found themselves wishing they had stayed behind to try and fight the fire. The Mayor of Malibu called it the YOYO fire, meaning, “You’re on your own.” Residents felt if they had stayed behind to extinguish a few stray embers that landed on or around their house perhaps they could have saved their home. If you had deployed that strategy in last year’s fire in Paradise, California you very likely would have been among the 86 people killed. Tanya Brown of the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (an institute which tests structural resiliency against natural disasters) told us, “We do not recommend trying to ride out a particular wildfire. If you’re given a notice to evacuate, you should evacuate.”
There is almost never a clear and easy answer to the question “What should I do when I know a natural disaster is imminent?” What we can say with confidence is that the time to act is before the disaster strikes and before the evacuation order comes in. You need to do all that you can to fortify your home to ensure that it can either keep you safe and alive during the disaster or that you can evacuate and come back to find your possessions intact and your home still standing after the storm.
And if you’re living with the hope of “It won’t happen to me” and the storm is headed your way, it’s best to listen to the authorities and go somewhere safe.