Prepare Your GO-bag in Advance

You’re going to be stressed. Your phone may lose power. Your home may be plunged into darkness. You may be awakened at 2 AM by someone pounding on your door telling you to get out immediately. Don’t think this can happen to you? It can. 

"There wasn’t time to grab much else. The nearby Palisades Fire — one of several wind-whipped blazes raging across Southern California — suddenly surged, threatening Hurwitz’s most valued possession: his family’s lives.” NBCNews.com, 1/8/2025

It’s as simple as getting a backpack  (any medium-sized bag will do)  and filling it with what you think you will need if you have to evacuate your home immediately. A GO-bag does not have to be fancy. It does not have to have “all the things.” It needs to contain the most important things. Items such as copies of important papers - passports, birth certificates, prescriptions, insurance docs - cash, maps, telephone numbers, a change of clothes, first aid supplies, snacks, water, flashlight. 

Visualize what you would bring if you had to leave your home in an instant. Then pack that and make sure to pack for your other family members -  human and non-human as well. Pack it now and keep it at the ready for a disaster that you hope will never come.