Evacuate early with a grab bag
Decide your triggers, pack a grab bag before you need it, and leave while roads are still open.
Critical caution: Late evacuation through smoke, fire or floodwater is one of the most dangerous things you can do. If authorities tell you to leave, leave. Never drive into floodwater.
- Time
- 1–2 hours to prepare
- Difficulty
- Low
- Outcome
- Leave early, safely and with what you need for three days
Survival lens: Hudson’s short-goal discipline applies before the emergency: write the decision once, calmly, so you do not have to make it in smoke or panic. Ollerton’s prepared-instinct principle—rehearse, then act—is what turns a plan into an early departure.
Before you begin
- Find your local emergency-warning app, radio station and website
- Identify at least two routes away from likely hazards
- Choose a destination outside the risk area: friends, family or an official evacuation centre
- Record medicines, devices and needs for each person and animal
What you need
- At least 10 litres of water per person
- Non-perishable food and a can opener
- Medicines (a week’s supply) and printed medicine list
- First-aid kit and manual
- Torch, spare batteries and battery radio
- Phone, charger and power bank
- Copies of documents on paper and USB
- Cash, spare clothes, sturdy shoes and gloves
- Toiletries, hand sanitiser and face masks
- Pet food, leads and carriers
Step-by-step procedure
- Set your leave triggers now. Write down the conditions that mean you go: an official “leave” or “evacuate” warning, a forecast of catastrophic fire danger, rising water at a marker you can see, loss of a critical medical service. Put the list where everyone can read it.
- Pack one grab bag per person. Use a backpack each person can carry. Pack water, food, medicines, a printed contact and medicine list, clothing, a torch and phone charging. Keep documents in a waterproof bag. Store bags by the exit and check them each season.
- Plan people and animals first. Decide who collects children, older relatives and neighbours who need help. Have carriers, leads and transport ready for animals. Large animals need moving much earlier than people.
- Leave early. When a trigger is met, go. Shut windows and doors, turn off gas and electricity if it is safe and you know how, take grab bags, and use your planned route. Avoid smoke, flooded roads and fallen power lines.
- Tell someone and register. Tell your out-of-area contact where you are going. If you go to an evacuation centre, register so family can find you (in Australia, the Red Cross Register.Find.Reunite service may be activated).
- Stay away until it is safe. Return only when authorities say the area is safe. Expect damaged roads, contaminated water and hazards in and around the home.
How to check it is working
- Every person knows the triggers and the destination
- Grab bags are packed, dated and by the exit
- There are two routes and a meeting point
- Animals have carriers or leads ready
- An out-of-area contact knows the plan
Common mistakes
- Waiting to see the hazard before leaving
- Driving through floodwater or smoke
- Packing more than you can carry
- Forgetting medicines, glasses or hearing aids
- Going back for possessions
Sources and further reading
- Queensland Government Get Ready: emergency kit
- Australian Red Cross: Prepare for emergencies — get packing
- CFA: Leave-early bushfire survival plan template (PDF)
- CFA (Victoria): Your bushfire plan
How this guide was checked
Official-source aligned: Aligned with Queensland Get Ready, Australian Red Cross and CFA leave-early guidance
Independent specialist review: not yet completed. How review works.
Last updated: Nov 2026 · edition 1.0.
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