Prepare for 72 hours home or away

We often hear about preparing for hurricanes and winter storms and being able to be on your own for at least 72 hours. Not many of us think about being told to leave our homes and not come back for three days because of the danger. And there's lots of good advice coming from some of the 16,000 Nova Scotians who have had that recent experience.

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
I've seen this happen a lot overthe years. You know, after a
fire or at the emergency where peoplecan't go home, where it CROSS is
called to help set up temporary accommodations, and unless it's in the middle of
the night, most people find somewhereto go, friends, family, a
cottage. And with more than sixteenthousand people now part of mandatory evacuation orders
through a localized state of Emergency andHRM, close to twenty people spent the

(00:24):
night at the emergency shelter in theCanada Game Center. We've never really had
an event on the scale of aHurricane Katrina. That's where tens of thousands
of people were forced to find aplace to stay because of that natural disaster
in two thousand and five. AndI don't know that we'll ever see a
situation where we have to house peoplein a sports stadium since we really don't
have the same kind of population density. At the end of the day,

(00:46):
it's a much more manageable situation whereeven large groups of folks who are now
forced to wait out the wildfire andfind out if they still have a home
to go. Back to estimates asif Tuesday around two hundred homes or buildings
already gone. And the good newsis that the fire didn't get any bigger
overnight. The bad news is that, well, it isn't contained, and
the humidity is down, the temperaturesand the winds are expected to go up.

(01:07):
An area around seven hundred hectares isburning in the Tantalent area. That's
ten times the size of Point PleasantPark and trying to stretch a hose line
around an area that size that's nearlyimpossible. Situation in Shelburn County even more
massive, close to ten thousand hectaresat this point, and was prompted an
emergency evacuation localized state of emergency theretoo, and that gives additional powers to
help enlist businesses and equipment if they'reneeded. And again, most of the

(01:32):
time those types of resources are alreadybeing offered by the people who can help.
I spoke with a woman who hadto leave her home Sunday night because
of an order by fire Cruise SamBranda to post a video of her house
and property is they were driving off, not sure she'd ever see it that
way again. It's still standing accordingto the last update she got, and
I asked her what advice she hadfor anyone who might find themselves in a
similar situation where there's a knock onthe door telling you to get out immediately

(01:56):
because of the impending danger. Andshe said, when you should make a
list, keep it on the fridge. No one really takes emergency planning seriously
enough to have a plan or akit ready to go. And she's not
wrong when she says, most ofthe time we only ever think about sheltering
in place for up to seventy twohours. Being told you have fifteen minutes
to pack your stuff and you maynot be allowed back for three days,
that's another thing altogether. What doyou take? How do you prioritize?

(02:20):
Well, that's why Sam says alist is invaluable. Take some of the
pressure off you when you only haveminutes to get ready. And she says
it's human nature to want to takeall of your mementos and the things that
are precious or special, but well, it's not really the time to frantically
pack up things and then later realize, well, you took a bathing suit
or a dress, or only highheels in the case of another woman I

(02:43):
know in the tantalent area. Shetook a frozen turkey whether when she left.
Now people are all looking out forone another. That's great. Make
sure you take the time to well, be prepared to look after yourself and
your family for up to seventy twohours. I'm Sheldon McLeod for Saltwire.
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