Chapter 24Vehicle evacuation
Chapter 24 · Long-Term Planning · 17 min read

Vehicle evacuation

Evacuating by car seems simple until you do it with your whole family, pets, several vehicles, empty gas stations, and a highway crawling along with 100 °F (38 °C) outside. This chapter prepares you to leave your area in an orderly way: when to go, what to load and in what order, which way to leave, how to travel in a convoy, and what to do if something goes wrong on the road. The general decision to stay or go is in chapter 1; basic urban evacuation and the highway table are in chapter 9; the car kit is in chapter 2.

The essentials · if you only have a minute
  • If the authorities order your area to evacuate, leave immediately. If they order you to shelter in place (chemicals, radiation), do not go out driving (chapters 15 and 16).
  • Keep the tank above half at all times in all your cars. Fill it as soon as a threat is announced: in an evacuation gas stations run dry.
  • Have 3 destinations and 2 routes for each, written on paper. Check your state's roads website before leaving.
  • Load what saves lives first: people, pets, medicines, documents, water. Everything else, only if there is time and space.
  • Pets travel secured (a fastened carrier or safety harness) and are never left alone in a parked car.
  • Extra gasoline: only in approved cans and outside the closed vehicle. Never inside the cabin or in the vehicle's cargo area.
  • Multi-car convoy: regrouping points set in advance. If you get separated, nobody stops on the shoulder: everyone continues to the next point.

In this chapter

24.1When to evacuate1 min read24.3Prepare the vehicles (before the emergency)1 min read0/724.4What to load and in what order3 min read24.5Pets in the car2 min read24.7Fuel: range and gas cans2 min read24.8Two-car convoy2 min read24.9Destinations1 min read24.10Traveling in extreme heat1 min read24.11If the car breaks down or you are stuck in a long traffic jam2 min read24.12Evacuating without a vehicle1 min read24.13Before you close the door1 min read0/624.14Common mistakes1 min read24.13Worksheet: Vehicle evacuation plan1 min read0/8
Chapter sources (1)
  1. 1.Evacuación — FEMA / Ready.gov — https://www.ready.gov/es/evacuacion 2.I-37 Contraflow; I-10 Contraflow (hurricane preparation) — Texas Department of Transportation — https://www.txdot.gov/content/dam/ docs/trf/hurricane-preparation/i37-contraflow.pdf ; https://www.txdot.gov/content/dam/docs/trf/hurricane-preparation/i10-contraflow.pdf 3.DriveTexas — TxDOT — https://drivetexas.org 4.State of Texas Emergency Assistance Registry (STEAR) — Texas Division of Emergency Management — https://tdem.texas.gov/stear 5.Houston evacuation routes and zip-zones, 2026 hurricane season (datos de H-GAC) — FOX 26 Houston — https://www.fox26houston.com/ weather/houston-evacuation-routes-zones-zip-code-2026-hurricane-season 6.Evacuation Zones 2020 — City of Corpus Christi — https://www.corpuschristitx.gov/media/eldbtrg0/firdep-evacuation-zone-map.pdf 7.Fire Prevention 52: Gas Cans — National Park Service — https://www.nps.gov/articles/fire-p52-gas-cans.htm 8.How the City of San Antonio is coordinating services to help storm evacuees (2020) — News 4 San Antonio — https:// news4sanantonio.com/news/local/how-the-city-of-san-antonio-is-coordinating-services-to-help-storm-evacuees 9.Car (kit de emergencia del auto) — Ready.gov — https://www.ready.gov/car