If an evacuation has been called, such as for a hurricane, you evacuate as soon as possible.
For some situations, smart people evacuate before the formal announcement. For example, wild fires are unpredictable and can move fast. Better to be safe.
There is a big difference between an evacuation and bugging out.
An evacuation has the expectation that you will return to your home in the foreseeable future. In this case, it’s as simple as driving away and going to your evacuation point or checking into a hotel. If you live in an area where evacuations are likely, such as a hurricane zone, plan ahead. Have a location you know you can go to and get a room or people you can stay with.
Reasons not to bug out:
You have your primary stockpile of supplies in your house.
You have a community around you who knows you and you know (this could be a good thing or a bad thing).
There is no immediate or foreseeable threat to you and your home, whether natural or man-made.
It does not appear that the situation will degrade.
When to bug out:
The most obvious would be if the home is unlivable. This would happen in the case of an extreme emergency that affects the area. Ultimately the hide site will be the place for your team to meet up if all else fails.
However, making the decision to bug out is a very difficult one if your home is still livable. Because when you bug out, there is a good probability you will not be returning to your home, so we’re talking extreme emergency on a large scale.
There are several predictors on deciding to go to the hide site.
Your home is no longer livable.
The emergency or disaster is something that is approaching you and can’t be stopped. The primary example of this would be a pandemic.
The rule of law has completely broken down and now your home is a target and you cannot adequately defend it
Television stations go blank.
Local FM radio stations go off the air.
The water stops.
The power grid goes down over an extensive area without any sign of repair forthcoming.
Long haul freight trucks are no longer moving. Most urban areas have enough food to last no more than a week.
You’re running out of stocked supplies to the point where you’re considering breaking into your main Grab-n-Go bag. Don’t. Use it to get to your hide site.
Increased military presence, especially if its Federal forces, not National Guard. Federal military Army, Air Force and Marines can only be employed stateside in extreme emergencies. In your Area Study learn the difference and what National Guard units are nearby; what their unit patch is (on the left shoulder) and what unit designations would be marked on the bumpers of their military vehicles.
In cities, if garbage is piling up and not being picked up, eventually this will cause disease. It also indicates a slow breakdown of social order.
There is slim to no possibility of receiving aid. This latter is something people don’t consider in mild or moderate emergencies. Localized emergencies always have the advantage of outside assistance coming in. If an emergency is on a national or international scale, this likelihood is drastically reduced.
A disturbing aspect of this is that while governments will call for evacuations, there really is no protocol for announcing that things have completely gone to s$%t. In fact, it is unlikely that such a thing will ever be announced. The desire to avoid panic will often override reality. Thus you must make this decision on your own.
Make sure you can listen in on the Emergency Broadcast Stations with your survival radio. A smart move is to monitor emergency transmissions in your area. Below is a free app that will allow you to do that. Often the emergency services are better informed than the general public. You can also get an idea of the scope of the emergency or disaster not only from what is being said, but the tone of the emergency personnel.
