This article is addressed to my adult children and their families. It should be useful to those readers who have family members who are spread out across a region of the country. It is intended to provide information and logistics for improving the odds of successful transport for those who may be planning to come “home” when there are natural disasters, or the Stuff Hits The Fan (SHTF).
Disasters, in my judgment, can range from large storms, tornados, large fires, and floods, all the way up to EMPs, world war, or deep societal breakdown. Each of these, to varying degrees, will disrupt your normal way of life. The larger ones will cause faster and broader disruptions and eventually huge changes in the way people live. It also seems that just about any disaster that occurs now immediately causes civil unrest, or at least allows the ongoing civil unrest to bubble up to the surface and metastasize.
Once the problem happens, I think everyone will need all the help they can get. I would love to have my family close to help weather the storm. I know my family will also need and appreciate our help. This means getting to a single location. Your family cannot help you, and you cannot help them, if they are trapped somewhere far away.
So, I write this to my children to communicate what I want them to do when “IT” happens…
My wife and I have two grown children with children of their own. They live in a Blue State nearby and unfortunately, near a large metropolitan area. Grandkids range from two to ten.
When I think about potential problems, basic questions I ask myself include:
How can my wife and I help them when it happens?
How can we help them stay safe?
How can we help them safely survive…food, water and defense?
The first answer that comes to mind is – we can’t. Not unless I can get to them, or they can get to me. I do not see the option of mailing them emergency food and water as viable. I can’t keep them safe from marauders from hundreds of miles away. But then, neither can the authorities where they live.
So, when the time comes (soon), my message to them will be:
LOGISTICS – Come Home NOW
Logistics Summary for My Family:
My wife and I are already “bugged out”. We live in a Red State, but it has some bad, liberal-governed areas that tend to dominate the political climate.
One thing I like about our location is that we are far north of any major cities, and if I were a refugee/looter, I would head south to warmer climates. We are not on or near a major golden hoard route, but that does not mean there won’t be looters and scavengers to fend off.
So I think we are safer against societal breakdown here than either of my children and their families are, in their urban areas.
As mentioned, our children both live in a Blue State. It has many of the trademark ground rules for chaos: liberal government, high crime, high welfare, unsafe streets, legal marijuana, and handcuffed police directed by liberal politicians. This will greatly complicate travel.
One adult child and family lives 150 miles away and in the close (25 miles from downtown) suburbs south of a large urban area. The other child and family live 200 miles away. They are on the far side of a different urban area from us. They are in a smaller city that is usually considered safe, but are only about an hour down a divided highway from the source of the civil unrest.
Between our place up north and both kids is a large river that functions as our state lines. Bridges are about fifteen to twenty miles apart outside of the city. These are choke points and one of my largest concerns for safe travel. Inside the city the bridges are closer, but I believe they are even less of an option as none of them would be passable in any serious SHTF situation.
I am afraid that soon the environment will be such that time will run out for travel. It will be “zero hour”!
Come Home NOW! Once those words are finally said it is too late to start to plan the trip. It is too late to make the investments and preparations needed to get home. It is time to finish loading the vehicle and Come Home!
STARTING NOW:
Get your families ready to leave immediately. When it starts to go south, time will be of the essence. If (when) I call, please be ready to leave immediately.
To be ready, to survive, plan to bring your 4-wheel drive vehicles here.
Keep your gas tanks full at all times.
Keep your spare gas tanks full and ready to load. Remember to rotate the stored gas every other time you refill your vehicle’s tank. Start using Stabil.
Keep enough cash on hand to get you home. Don’t count on the ATMs or credit card machines to work.
Start compiling some extra food, both for the trip and once you get here. Each time you go to the store, pick up some extra cans of food and long-lasting foods such as nutrition bars, soups, rice, and beans. You will not miss the extra $10 – $20 that is spent each time. Make sure the expiration dates on the food you buy are far enough out that you do not have to constantly rotate. Keep the food tightly packed in boxes that can be easily moved and stored in the house and vehicle.
Consider getting a bike rack to bring along a couple of bicycles if you can.
Build a car Go-Bag. Keep it in the car at all times. It should contain items that are not hurt by freezing or long storage. My bag includes, among other things, a tool kit with hammer, screwdrivers, pliers, tape measure, and cutting tools. I also have a tire pump, pressure gauges, tow strap, crowbar, and flashlight. I always keep a spare blanket and some rugs in the back. These will help keep you warm and also keep the car clean if I am hauling something dirty or muddy. I also have a small store of toilet paper, Kleenex and paper towels. Some food and water is also packed away, plus a self-defense item or two and a first aid kit. See the sources mentioned below for additional ideas.
Build a set of Go-Bags for each member of the entire family. Store them in an easy-to-access place.
To start you out, I have procured and provided you backpacks that can be used as primary go-bags for each of your families. I put a few items in your bags to start you off. You will need a few more with varying supplies, but these are a start. I put a hard copy of the list of goods I recommend you to procure. This list is based on the Rawles List of Lists, tailored to the relatively short distances that you will have to go. FEMA also has a list, and I have printed a copy and put it in the bags. Some states also have list for this purpose. Check what your state, and others, recommend.
Procure and get go-bags ready for each member of your family. The bag should be tailored to each person. The two-year-old’s bag will be different than middle kids or the adults, but it is important for them to have one.
Fill the bags as if you plan on never seeing your home again. Or, at least plan on having it looted and you stuff all gone or ruined. Bring any valuables that you don’t want to lose. Bring and carefully store all medicines that are or could be required. Bring extra eyeglasses if you need them. Keep the paper maps that I gave you handy in a front pocket. They will show alternate routes in your car at all times. Bring and store carefully hard copies of any identification papers; driver’s licenses, social security cards, birth certificates. Bring charged cell phones and keep a cell phone charger in the car. A solar charger would be best. Phones may not work the whole trip, depending on how fast you start out and how bad the disaster is. Bring a two-way radio along. Use the one I gave you, set to the channel noted on the back. Take time to learn how to use them now so you aren’t learning on the run.
Go-Bag Contents
Some items for the various go bags include:
Head of household/adult bags – My key recommendations for the trip you have to make are:
Maps
Water filter kit and tablets
Bottled water
Emergency/small food – for each person’s needs
Unbreakable cup or mug
Face mask filters, 5
Goggles, eye protection, 1 pr
Lighters, Bic 2
Matches, large
Light stick
Flashlight, crank powered
Flashlight with batteries D cell
Candles
Whistle
Knife (Swiss Army)
More Knives
Pepper spray
Cold weather clothing
Rain poncho, emergency
Emergency Blankets for everyone
Leatherman tool
Duct tape
Rope, 50 ft
Space blankets
Water
Crowbar, small
First Aid Kit
Sunscreen
Sanitizing wipes 2 each – 50 pack
Diapers for the little one
Mosquito repellant
Snack/energy foods
Bag for the young children: First, it should be a very small bag with contents tailored just for them. Be prepared to carry the bag for them after a short while. Contents can include:
Contact information, names and numbers. NO addresses
Wipes
Snacks
Juice pouches
Toys to occupy their time
Favorite doll/stuffed animal
Blanket
Extra clothes
Clothes for cold weather – outer garments/boots cap/gloves
Bags for the middle kids:
Sturdy clothes – coat/cap/gloves/boots for cold weather
Comfort snacks
Books, notebooks, and small games
Light sticks
Water bottles
Non electronic toys
Emergency Blanket
WHEN THE TIME COMES AND YOU GET MY CALL
Before you leave the house:
Empty your refrigerator, assume that the power will go out and stay out.
Get the garbage out of the house.
Lock the house down. If looters want it, make them work for it. And locking it ensures your insurance company can ascertain that the house was locked and broken into.
Shut off the breakers. Turn down/turn off the AC or furnace. If there is time, drain the water heater and lines.
Load the rest of your general items that are stored in the house to the vehicle for this trip. This includes your assembled food stores. It also includes all your cash, hidden in the car. This is the time to load your defensive weapons – such as knives, guns, stun guns, batons, bear spray. Bring your work clothes as living in this situation will include a lot of work.
Start your trip
If your area is still safe, go to a gas station. Fill the tank one last time if you can.
While at the service station, pick up as many nutrition bars and bottles of water as you can. Charge everything if you can, to preserve your cash.
Take you preplanned route. It is marked on the maps I provided, as well as some well researched alternate routes.
Items to leave behind
Don’t bring: Any friends…Sorry.
Also, don’t bother to bring big electronics or large toys.
Don’t leave behind: Anything you cannot replace….Valuables. This includes precious metals, weapons, ammunition, important documents, and important family records. Sort these by how bad you want to carry them if you are walking….
ON THE ROAD:
The bridges I mentioned could be closed entirely. I discussed my letter to my kids with one of my associates and he immediately brought up the fact that if things really go south, the government may very quickly declare martial law to gain more power, and part of that includes closing the state lines and the bridges. I remember hearing that some of the geniuses, I mean governors, tried this during Covid also. It is definitely a thing that could happen.
Once on the road, keep moving. Do not stop for anything. If there is an obstruction, go around it. If the kids have to stop, tell them to wait just a minute.
Drive carefully. No accidents.
Passenger in front rides shotgun. Literally. Be ready.
Stay on main roads as shown on the map. Preview the best three routes for your family’s trip and use these routes if at all possible.
Use safe routes
To the child living on the far side of the city, avoid the city at all costs. Plan to go straight to reach one of the preselected bridges far south of the city. Once in my state, angle mostly north, staying on preselected routes, but keeping an open mind about switching to preselected alternate routes. Use interstates or divided highways if you can. Stay away from twisty roads that go through the middle of nowhere (at least until you get close to our home here in the middle of nowhere.) Stay away from large towns. Avoid pinch points. Expect that the usual four hour drive will now be six or seven hours.
To the child living in the suburbs, get straight east out of town, and do not go near the city. Go south first if you have to. Take back roads to get to a bridge well away from the city. The usual under-three hour trip will take at least five.
Communications:
While you are on the road, starting in your driveway, call us!!! Let us know that you are starting out. Continue to call every hour or so to give us a report and your ETA. Call your sibling to see if there is a time and place when/where you can meet up and travel together. There is safety in numbers. Use the cell as long as there is cell service. If you lose cell service, then use the two-way radio. Expect it to not work to reach us until you are close to home. Also, use it to contact your sibling as you will eventually be traveling close to each other’s routes if not actually on the same road.
GET HERE!
We will be watching and praying for you.
If necessary we will come out to meet you and escort you safely home.
Once here, we will help you carefully park your cars so they don’t attract attention.
Our home will fit you all. My preparation includes remodeling to finish private areas for each family. We have a good start on supplies by can surely use what you bring. Remember, when you make it safely, bringing all that stuff was not in vain. It will be used. The food will help us get along until we can procure or raise more. The clothing will keep you comfortable through the seasons. Even the backpacks will continue to be useful as we forage, hunt, and fish.
We also need your help to operate day to day. Additional bodies for cooking, gardening, cutting wood, and defense are extremely important.
We can’t wait to see you! We will live the best life!
God Bless your travel.