The 6 essentials for your emergency go bag: Video

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Severe weather can happen suddenly, leaving little time to pack a lot of things before you need to hit the road to evacuate. The idea behind a go bag is to make it a lot faster to hit the road, as time is critical when severe weather is quickly approaching. Plus, having a bag ready, or mostly ready, can alleviate some of the major stressors that come with an evacuation mandate. 

Watch this video for the 6 items you need to keep in a go bag in case of emergency evacuations.

Emergency go bag

A proper go bag includes all your essentials. Ideally, these are items that you can leave in the bag at all times to eliminate the need to add them when you’re trying to evacuate. 

Your go bag should include:

• Clothing: You’ll want easy, comfortable layers. Don’t forget to pack extra socks and underwear! 
• Toiletries: Keep your go bag filled by using travel-sized items so they are always packed and ready.
• Important documents: You don’t want to leave behind things like your social security cards, passports, birth certificates and any other important legal and medical documents. It’s also a good idea to take a picture of all of those documents with your smartphone so you have an easily accessible digital version. 
• Medicine: Important daily medications will need to be added at the time of evacuation, but you can also keep a first aid kit with basics, including painkillers, bandages and hydrogen peroxide.
• Items you use regularly: Pack your daily essentials, like charging cables, battery packs, wallet, ID and money. 
• Water and non-perishable foods. 
• Any specific items for kids or pets. 

While you may want to, don’t waste time packing things like entertainment electronics, memorabilia or jewelry.  

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Maps in an emergency

Your go-to map apps can also be a valuable resource during an emergency. 

Like any time of day, these apps provide real-time traffic updates to help you avoid hazardous areas, dangerous roads or roads that are closed entirely due to fires or flooding. In times of emergencies, the map may also provide more information and links to help you safely evacuate. For example, Google Maps will show designated evacuation routes and shelter locations during some natural disasters.

Watch this video to see how Google Maps can be used in an emergency. 

Many apps rely on user-generated data to keep you updated in emergencies. Apps like Waze allow users to report hazards, road closures and accidents in real time. Additionally, emergency-specific apps like FEMA provide essential resources such as evacuation routes, shelter locations and disaster recovery info. These crowdsourced updates can be invaluable during a crisis.

Turning on your push notifications will ensure that you don’t miss any important updates.