Monday, October 11, 2021

What Would I Save?

 RHYS BOWEN:  When I lived in London and worked for the BBC I shared an apartment with three college friends in Queen Anne Street, just off Regent Street and behind Oxford Street. It was a perfect location and we had lucked out as a firm of solicitors owned the lovely Georgian house and only used the bottom two floors. The top two had remained vacant until we moved in. (I bet they’d cost a fortune these days. Perfect location--quiet street within walking distance of Oxford Circus).

I was on the top floor, the fourth. And I used to lie in bed and worry about what I would try to save in a fire. Stupid thing to worry about as in those days I didn’t have anything of great value. But these days the same worry has returned, because I live in a fire prone area of California. Fire is always on our minds. We have become like woodland creatures.  If we smell smoke we are instantly alert. I go to the back balcony and look over the landscape for any signs of fire, then the front of the house.

We’ve had close calls. In September there was a fire in the next valley. Luckily it raced up the hillside away from us but the tankers came in low over our heads for several hours. In the big Sonoma County fire a few years ago my daughter arrived at our house in the middle of the night bringing only her kids, the dog and the book of her wedding pictures. No toothbrush, hairbrush, change of underwear.  We do not think rationally when told to evacuate.  (Her husband drove to his job at the veterans home with flames licking at both sides of the car. He shot a video. Terrifying).


So you don’t make rational decisions in moments of panic, which causes me to make mental lists. What would I grab if told to get out?  The obvious: my phone, Mac, iPad, connections, my jewelry box, passport. But then what? My awards? I’d really like to keep them but I can’t picture myself rushing to and from a car with teapots and tombstones (yes, one Anthony award was a tombstone). Photo albums? Items my mother gave me? As many clothes as possible in case i was in a shelter? We have some lovely antiques, but I couldn’t carry out a Queen Anne desk or a glass cabinet full of dolls. We have our trust documents in a supposedly fireproof safe, but they have not stood up well to really intense fires. However our attorney has a copy of the trust so no biggie there. 

My tax records? That would be more important. I’d hate to try to explain to the IRS that I had no proof of any claim.

But do you know what? I find that I am not really that bothered about things. If the antiques burn it would be a shame. If I lost all my clothes I’d be annoyed. But the photo albums? The children when they were small? Priceless.  So…. I’ve bought one of those scanners and soon everything will be digital.

How about you? What would you try to save first. Which things mean so much to you that you’d have to rescue them?

JENN McKINLAY: I’ve watched so much footage of the fires, Rhys. It’s just awful. Heartbreaking and horrible. I can’t imagine being told to get out with only a moment’s notice.  I’m the sort of person who doesn’t like to be rushed, so you can imagine how poorly that would go. The Hooligans and I always joke that the Hub will only save us if we’re carrying one of his guitars, or preferably two. Musicians!

That being said, I’ve digitized my photos and videos. My important papers are in a fireproof safe. I don’t collect anything. So, the critters would be the top priority and then, I don’t know, some clothes, some cash, favorite pieces of jewelry? So long as my loved ones were safe, I think could leave the rest behind.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: This is too awful, and, yes, Jenn,  too heartbreaking, and I think we decide at the time. People, cash, computer, phone. Art and clothes and awards and ahhh…  I’m going to take photos of everything, and then send them to you all, and then SOMEONE will have them. Does that work?  I agree, Rhys, no way to think rationally, that’s why we have to plan. But--ah. Then we don’t. Do you? 



LUCY BURDETTE: Very moving line about becoming woodland creatures, Rhys. Those fires are terrifying, cleaning out entire towns so quickly. We had a small practice with this question when a hurricane threatened. We took the electronics and the animals and their food and not much else. I meant to get to digitizing this summer, but the time got away. Losing people or pets, or the neighborhood would break my heart.

HALLIE EPHRON: Easy first choice for me: my husband’s drawings--two accordion files packed with them. After that, the “important documents” folder (it’s all replaceable but I’ve recently learned that there’s a lot of hoop-jumping to do if anything needs to be replaced.) A painting by my mother’s brother who died in his 20s. Water! Cell phone cell phone cell phone. What did we do without them? And I’d take a quick detour to be sure my neighbors on all sides are on the move, too.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Oh, Rhys, I can't imagine living with that constant threat. That's so terrifying! Here we have "tornado season" when we are on extra alert, but that's not like having fire marching towards you. If we did have a tornado, we wouldn't have time to do more than grab the animals (assuming we could corral the cats) and our phones and laptops. I would get my passport and my vax card (which I keep in my passport) and we would just have to hope for the best on everything else.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: This would have been a much more difficult answer just a few months ago, before I adopted Rocky and Kingsley, bringing the TDN (total dog number) of my house to three. Getting them and Janey out and into the car would be my top priority, no doubt. After that? My laptop, since so much of what we traditionally want to grab - important personal info, photos, etc - is online. Really, I can access it with another computer if necessary.

If I have five more minutes after that, I have some family portraits - you know, the old fashioned painted kind - that I’d grab off the walls. Fortunately, my office is the Spencer-Fleming-Hugo-Vidal Family Shrine, so I wouldn’t have to go to more than one room to get all the important pictures. By the way, one of the nice aspects to living in an old house like this is the peace of mind that comes from knowing it has stood for two hundred years at this point. I mean, anything could happen, but I think my chances are pretty good it will still be here in 2121.

RHYS: So what about you? What would you take with you? Has anyone experienced a rapid evacuation from a hurricane or tornado, or even a wildfire?

81 comments:

  1. Just the thought of needing to do this is terrifying, Rhys . . . thankfully, we’ve never been faced with having to leave our home on a moment’s notice, but my heart breaks for those who have had to flee [or have lost their homes to the fire or flood or whatever disaster loomed].

    I’d like to think I’d just go, but I know myself well enough to realize that I’d be grabbing a thing or two on the way out the door.

    I’d be truly heartbroken at the thought of leaving my books behind, but I’d grab pictures first . . . medicine . . . phone and charger . . . the computer and the external hard drive where we’ve saved our scanned pictures . . . the box of important papers and my purse with the driver’s license and all those cards we carry . . . my Bible . . . .

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  2. Rhys, it's terrifying to have to go through fires. Because of Superstorm Sandy, I have a "go" bag from American Red Cross (which reminds me to check that the content is up to date) that contains the essential plus underwear. After that I would grab my computer, medicine, important papers. I do have a fire-proof safe and one of those fire-proof envelope. I need to check that too.

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    1. We have quite a big, sturdy fireproof safe but I heard they did not survive well to a real inferno.

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    2. They are designed to withstand a typical house fire which is unbelievable hot but nothing compared to these horrible fires.

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  3. Rhys, the wildfires have been pretty bad in British Columbia this year, too. Some towns were totally destroyed in minutes.

    I would not take much. Passport, cell phone and charger, a credit card and some cash, that's it. All the important papers are in a fireproof safe, and my photos are all digitized.

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    1. My list is small since I don't drive and would either be walking or taking a shared bus/ride with limited space. My computer, tax records and vax card are all online.

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  4. Truly terrifying to contemplate not having much notice before an evacuation. Woodland animals, indeed.

    Phone and charger, medicine, passport and vax card (great idea to store them together, Roberta!), my little laptop, and a few favorite photos of my parents and my children. The silver chest? The set of my own books? The priority gets lower and lower.

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    1. Oh yes. My own books, Edith. I do have some that are out of print now. And the children's books I wrote years ago. I'd be sad if I lost them but not heartbroken.

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  5. People, pets, phone. Our house is a hundred years old and all wood. So it would go up like tinder i'm afraid. Oddly the thing that worries me is the cat. The dogs go where I go, so they're not a problem. But cats tend to hide, and I'm pretty sure Eliot would do just that.

    I've already gifted almost all my jewelry to my daughter, And she also has the picture albums from her childhood. Each child has their baby book too. Clothes? Who cares. That's at the bottom of the list except what I can wear.

    Then there's Julie. I'm sure she will want every single thing that ever belonged to dead people. i shudder to think. At the very least she'd grab the box with birth certificates and passports and euros that we didn't spend!

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    1. Oh my, I forgot the most important thing -- MY KINDLE!

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    2. When hurricane season approaches we leave the cat carriers out and open with spare cat beds inside. They get used to seeing the carriers so they don't freak when they appear, and often opt to sleep in them at night. Made it easier to corral the cats when we had to leave in a hurry.

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    3. That's a great idea, Kait. And am reminding myself AGAIN that we need a third cat carrier in case of emergencies...

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  6. Ann, I laughed about Julie wanting to grab things from dead people. Most of us are that way!

    About 10 years ago or so there was massive flooding in Nashville, and a friend whose home was surrounded by that mass of water decided to prepare her family better for the next disaster. She blogged about her process, and how she made decisions about what to include in their preparedness supplies, and I made go-bags for us based on her information. Which also need to be updated. I dump out the water jugs and refill with fresh water every six months or so.

    When I first started selling insurance my mentor had me speak to real estate offices at their weekly sales meetings. It was the late '70s, and I dragged a film reel and player around to 23 of those meetings, showing tornado disasters, and talking about the then-new feature of replacement value in house insurance. (Now a standard feature.) So I've been thinking about this for a long time.

    Two things hardly anyone thinks of when they make these lists: passwords (my doc file of passwords is five pages long; I can't remember any of them), and a way to prove to your insurance company what you had that needs to be replaced. Just as you can upload your family photos to the cloud, you can do the same with a photo inventory of your belongings. Photos of all your huge personal libraries, for instance! Or Hank's shoe and designer jacket collection. :-) It could make an enormous difference in how much the insurance company reimburses you for in a fire, flood, or tornado.

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    1. My passwords file is on my phone and accessible on the Norton cloud. Good idea about doing a photo inventory but I figure there's no way I would get reimbursed for 10000+ books!

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    2. Karen, those are great ideas. I've had problems with passwords when traveling without my laptop, since I don't use my phone to access a lot of my usual stuff online.

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    3. It's a predicament, isn't it? I'm wondering about password apps, and which ones might be secure enough to use on a phone.

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    4. Karen, I keep all my passwords on Dashlane so I can access them from any device. And I took photos of every room in the house, all the clothes in the closets etc. Having had friends live through fires recently I know how much they've had to hassle with the insurance companies.

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    5. Thanks, Rhys, I'll check out Dashlane!

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    6. I cannot recommend a password manager app highly enough!! We use one called KeePass. It works across platforms, so is on our phones and computers. It not only gives you access to passwords from anywhere (as long as you don't forget your master password!!) but it generates passwords for you. No more using your child/pet name/birthday for hacker fun, lol.

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    7. Thanks for the additional info, Debs.

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  7. Karen, good tips! I have a very few possessions that I could never be compensated for, but a photo would at least prove I had owned them. In the past year we've endured two--make that three storms with winds fierce enough to top big trees all around me. So this is a real worry--what if the next storm sends something onto the house?

    First priority are my three guys. Nemo the dog will go where they go, no problem. But yes, the cats! I can grab the important papers file, but the cats will scatter and hide. My purse, medicine, cellphone and charger.

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    1. It mainly lets the adjuster know a couple things they could not otherwise be aware of. The difference between priceless antiques and Ikea furniture is vast, and having custom window treatments vs. paper shades, for instance.

      I open the closet doors and all drawers when I'm taking photos, and just snap a shot of the contents, for reference. It also helps you remember what was in your possession at a time when your shock might cause forgetfulness. Once the payout is made there's no way to go back and add to it.

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  8. Rhys, I can only imagine from the pictures how terrifying this would be.

    I'd grab wallet, cell phone, laptops/iPad, Koda...and not much else. We also have a fire safe. I guess I should take the accordion file under my desk with my writing receipts. All my tax records are on my laptop. Maybe my wedding album, one of the few that's not digitized. Everything else, meh. I can always buy another charger and a change of clothes.

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  9. Don't forget to pack your meds, at least a couple days' worth. I have a lock box with the important papers and most other things are on the cloud. A list of passwords would be helpful. When you know you'll have to evacuate you have a small window of time to get some things. But if it comes in the night, all you can do is grab and run.

    Sadly, less than 2 weeks ago, a good friend from high school died in a fire that started in the middle of the night. We don't yet know the exact cause but she was on oxygen. The house was very old and because it burned so quickly there was no way to get her out.

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    1. Oh, Judi, how awful. I'm so sorry for your loss, and the tragedy of it.

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    2. I'm so sorry... how perfectly awful.

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    3. Oh, Judi, that's dreadful. I'm so sorry.

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    4. Oh, Judi, I am so sorry. How sad.

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    5. Thank you, dear friends. After having more than 2 house fires, although they were all in the afternoon, fire is something that is always in the back of my mind. And so I haven't known how to begin to process Nancy's death. believe me, it does help knowing how many people care.

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    6. Judy, I'm so sorry. I suppose the oxygen only made things worse.

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    7. How horrible, Judi. I'm so sorry.

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  10. Rhys, the California fires are like confronting Hell. Terrifying, and so fast! Years ago, we had recently moved to Santa Monica when fires raged through the northern side of the canyon. I had experienced hurricanes, blizzards, and tornados, but not fires.

    Dogs and their food, small file box from the front hall closet with copies of all the important documents, our passports, vax cards and keys, 3-5 days worth of clothes. My laptop. Go go go.

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  11. Fires were so prevalent this summer in my province of Manitoba that their spectre kept us away from the cottage for most of the season. So scary.

    What would I take? Partner, pet, electronics, valuable documents. I really should get myself organized to make it easy in the eventuality...

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  12. Growing up in Los Angeles I remember seeing fires from a distance ... fanned by the Santa Ana winds. A relative had a home in the canyon and seemed like every year or so fires would be much too close for comfort. Fortunately she's moved to the flats where the fire danger is much less. So scary. Several of my books have fire scenarios in them so I know it's dug its way deep into my consciousness.

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    1. Yes, same here, Hallie. And then with the next winter's rains, the burnt hillsides would give way with no vegetation to anchor them, and houses would slide down. Definitely part of a Los Angeles area child's upbringing.

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    2. And the smell of smoke, Hallie. We live with that so often these days. It's been drifting in from the Sierra and often ash covers the cars.

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  13. I've never experienced fire on that scale, but when my mom was a teenager, their house burnt to the ground. She was always terrified of fire after that and her fear is ingrained in me. I love a fire in the fireplace or fire pit, but cannot bring myself to burn leaves or brush piles.

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    1. IN California we are not allowed to burn anything, ever. When we first moved here we had a lovely bonfire, only to have the fire department arrive and fine us!

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    2. I only like fires outside. Inside makes me nervous.

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  14. Like Hallie, I grew up watching heat lightening start fires in the mountains. The season back then was from July through mid September ... well we all know about now. Likewise hurricane season seems almost year round now.

    At the beginning of the season, we do look at evacuation decisions. In the past we have agreed to stay in place unless their is a mandatory evacuation order - which is not too likely. Hurricane Irma's eye went directly over my property and no one evacuation was issued. I also thought about stuff. All my medical records are online, my personal papers, divorce, marriage, banking records, ins. all online. My stuff is good will quality at best. My beloved cats can be captured, the car is now reliable, and the house and contents are insured. This is the best I can do to avoid climate anxiety for today.
    Oh, and all the photos I put into the cloud? I missed that flickr went dark. Gone all those images are in my mind now. Live and learn no?

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    1. Hi Coralee, Irma was a game changer for a lot of people. We lived in Hendry County at the time. We fled. First and only time for us to leave town and we only left because of a tree right outside our kitchen door. Glad that you were safe!

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    2. I'm extra careful about online images. I have a 2 terabyte hard drive with all my photos on it, ready packed in a bag, plus they are on iCloud, Amazon Photos and Dropbox.

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  15. why dyslexics need a copy editor . "unless there is a mandatory evacuation"

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  16. I cannot imagine the terror of approaching fire. From what I've read, they can turn on a dime and you have minutes. So scary.

    On September 10, 2017, we woke at 6:30 AM to the news that the new projections for Hurricane Irma put our house in the northeast eyewall and it was anticipated it would remain there for twelve to fourteen hours. Projected arrival was no later than noon. We had anticipated staying through Irma, we'd stayed through all other hurricanes, but we had an estimated 500 year-old live oak right outside our kitchen. The tree was huge, was scheduled for trimming in two weeks, and having it survive twelve hours of 150 mph winds seemed a lot to ask. We had always kept go bags for emergencies. Ours contained pet food, clothes, cash, and spare electronic chargers. We quickly added laptops and cell phones, crated the cats, caged the birds, piled all in the car, and were on our way. When we returned we discovered that the tree had lost limbs in every direction but toward the house - including planting one in the middle of the hot tub. The pool was a total loss. The wind took the ridgecap off the roof, but the house was intact although the insulation soggy, most of the damage was cosmetic. I will never forget driving north on I-75 and hearing the emergency alert sirens sound on our phones at the border of every county. Once we left, we couldn't go back.

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    1. Which explains a lot.. I thought you were still in Florida.. guess meeting for lunch is a non starter (smile).

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    2. Horrifying, Kait. At least we don't have pets to worry about.

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    3. How awful, Kait. I can't imagine living with the fear of such a thing happening.

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    4. Darn, Coralee, No. We're in Maine now. I can tell you that seeing our intersection on WINK streetview that morning was a real gamechanger for us! I wish I had known you were in SW Fla. Would have loved to have lunch.

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    5. Rhys, the pets added an extra layer when it came time to flee - at the time we had five cats and eleven small birds. We were so fortunate that hotels were accommodating. That was our biggest fear, but we discovered that most hotels/motels waived their pet limits to accommodate those who fled the storm.

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    6. Thanks, Karen. In the past ten years it seems that all natural disasters have ramped up. They are fiercer and faster than in years past.

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  17. I live in Santa Rosa. I lived right outside the southern edge of the evacuation zone for Tubbs. I was evacuated for Kincaid and last year I moved across town only to be evacuated two months later due to the Glass. Here is my list - meds, clothes, electronics, sleeping bag and pillow. Then irreplaceable pictures and family jewelry pieces. Finally paintings, irreplaceable books. I have luckily had enough warnings to actually get a small chest of food into the car. The bigger problem is the actual leaving, multi lane freeways become clogged with cars because we are all going the same way, away from the danger. I can only imagine the fear leaving wooded areas on narrow two lane winding wooded roads with emergency responds going toward the danger. Then, where to go? Rhys' daughter arrived at Rhys' home. Shelters are fine for a short stay but there are times I have problems in crowds. Last year the director of my agency invited my to stay in the home she was renting. It was one the rebuilds in the Coffee Park area of Santa Rosa that was destroyed by Tubbs. I know people who have lost everything in these fires. I can't imagine the sadness but to lose a family member or friend? We are in Red Flag Warning right now, so I will spend the evening prepping because evacuations have been at night so far.

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    1. I forgot - car always had half a tank of gas and I always try to have at least $100 in cash during fire season.

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    2. How horrifying, Deana. You are 100% right about the traffic. We fled Hurricane Irma at the last minute. Because we waited so long, there was almost no traffic - or gas - we make it a point to keep the car full, but the thought of being stranded in traffic with no safe place to be...

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    3. That's the big worry, Deana. How to get out. Where to go. We have friends who live in the hills. Sometimes I have envied their views, but now I think how would they get out. And it must be so stressful having been through several evacuations.

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  18. I realize reading these comments that I live in a thankfully boring place. The worst we've had in the thirty plus years I've lived in Maine have been lengthy power outages due to ice storms or nor'easters. The state gets on average one small earthquake a year, but again, I've only felt one of them since 1987. And there are places with localized flooding due to high tides or swollen rivers, but its penny ante stuff compared to hurricanes in low-lying areas.

    This is actually making me more nervous, not less, because I'm realizing my emergency prep is VERY slapdash. I need to up my game, starting with scanning important docs and having a go bag for me and for the pets.

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    1. We've been talking every year about getting a small generator for those freezing power outage times, Julia - our house has no fireplace or wood stove, and really, no place to put one. Ugh.

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    2. You get SNOW and ICE. To a Californian those sound terrible!

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    3. This makes me think of an article I saw over the weekend ranking safest cities in the country. Buffalo (near where I grew up) was 17th or something. Okay for physical safety, decent for economic safety and only scored a 3 for environmental risk (lower numbers = safer). Guess even the people who put lists together don't think snow and ice is that risky. LOL

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    4. Yeah, a generator. Sigh. We don't have one.

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  19. We've been talking about it too, since we lost the contents of fridge and freezer.

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  20. Since we moved to Houston we've been through Ike and Harvey without harm. Why do these storms come on land at night when you can't see anything? Anyway it would have to be a truly monster storm for us to evacuate. If our house caught fire I'd get all living creatures out along with my phone and my purse. And hope for the best.

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  21. Hope that I am not too late here.

    What would I save in a fire? First, my family. I was thinking about the actor/dancer Gene Kelly whose son saved his life when his house caught fire. I would grab my passport with my vax card and my lifeline - my iPhone. Thanks for the reminder, I need to scan all of the photos.

    Something close happened to me donkey years ago! I was in the shower when I smelled smoke and I quickly got dressed and got out! Yes, shampoo was still in my hair! It turns out that one house right next door caught fire and the fire trucks already arrived and were in the process of putting it out!

    Diana

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  22. This has been on my mind again since this weekend was the four year anniversary of the fires in Sonoma County where my brother lost his house. They grabbed the traditional computers and important papers, but the thing they said they wish they had grabbed was some clothes. While they were able to get some new clothes rather quickly, having a few things that were familiar would have been comforting.

    I was evacuated a couple years ago. Fortunately, I didn't lose anything, but in addition to my important papers and computer and clothes, I did grab a few of my rare, signed books and some DVDs that would be hard to replace that I love. I grabbed one box of Christmas ornaments since we collect them from vacations. But you can't take everything, and you don't have much time.

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  23. In a wildfire zone, definitely take your important papers with you. It may be days or longer until you are allowed back to get your fire safe, even if it survives. Some clothes are a good idea, it takes awhile before any money starts flowing, so if you can put off that expense for a bit, it helps.

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  24. When I see people escaping the wildfires, I get the sense that all that is important to them is getting their families and animals to safety. And, I think that it does come down to that in the end. So, humans and animals first. However, if there were time to grab some things, I would start with my big binder of important papers and documents that I keep handy. The laptop, cell phone, Kindle, and iPad and chargers would be easy to scoop up. Because they are close together in the living room, dining room, and little library room, I would grab some framed family photos, my Canterbury Tales framed print, my mother's blur salt-glazed pitcher, my mother's baby cup, my original painting by a Kentucky artist of a pair and one of my hometown, and great-aunt's two little paintings. If I had time to grab some of my treasured books, I'd first load up all the Harry Potter books, which are all first editions, and the first book is especially valuable. Into the book box would go all the the Jungle Reds books I've collected and the Elly Griffiths. My very old copies of A Christmas Carol and A Garden of Verses would go, too. Oh goodness, leaving books would be so hard.

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  25. We’ve thought about this too, Rhys. People nd cats come first, of course.

    Then:
    1. Backup hard drive for computer. We have Apple iMacs and things are automatically backed up daily. That means I have access to every file, address, phone number and contact, in hand. If time, the laptop too, and the cell, but the backup drive is top priority.
    2. Meds and toiletries
    3. The “important” folder, with Passport, birth certificates, etc.
    4. Basic clothes, shoes, coats and a hat and umbrella and blankets.
    5. There are a half dozen valuable or very favorite books I’d put in a box.
    6. I have a couple of original oil paintings if there’s time to pull them off the wall.
    7. A chair and pillow.
    8. Music? I have over 2,000 CDs, probably more. Take some? Which? Portable player?
    9. A few basic tools, pliers, screwdriver, box knife, marker, duck tape. A mug.

    You get the idea. But I sure hope none of us ever has to use such a list!

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  26. Shoot, my real list has chargers and cords, which I forgot above.

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  27. There is a parallel to the threat of fire that we (luckily) haven't experienced in the US-- the threat of war. Back before the turn of the century (yup, 21 years ago!), I used to watch the coverage of the Kurds trying to escape some of the attacks on them (more recently it has been the Yazidi, but minorities have been taking it on the chin for the past forever), and my parents had begun to deteriorate physically but stubbornly refused to use wheelchairs, walkers, etc. I used to think about what would happen if I had to escape with them-- post-Taliban, we mostly don't think of the people of much of the Middle East as being like us, but they didn't always wear burkas. These are people like us-- how far could I get on one tank of gas if I had to? I never mentioned it to anyone, but I had a lightweight but sturdy plastic wheelbarrow that I thought would fit in the trunk area of my car, and I figured that if I had to head for the hills, that would serve if I ran out of gas and/or road. Paranoia? Maybe. But we were only half a century removed from the Nazi round-ups in oh-so-civilized Germany.

    So my answer is, today I probably couldn't save myself. But at the time, that would have been how I somehow I would save my dogs and my parents. I thank heaven that I never had to.

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