Find the evacuation decisions you still have not made
Evacuation readiness is mostly a decision problem: where will you go, how will you get there, what must leave with you and who needs extra help? The checker focuses on those open decisions instead of giving you a misleading readiness percentage. A household can own plenty of supplies and still lose valuable time if nobody has decided on a destination, alternate route, meeting point, transport for pets or a plan for medications and mobility equipment.
Evacuation Readiness Check
Identify which pre-decisions are still open before a warning forces you to make them quickly.
What this tool is helping you decide
Warnings compress time. Routes can close, communications can fail and a household may need to move medications, pets, documents or mobility equipment quickly. Decisions made before the warning are easier to execute. Think in terms of primary and backup options: more than one route when practical, more than one way to contact family members, and at least one destination outside the immediate hazard area. If someone relies on specialized transport, powered medical equipment or refrigerated medication, those constraints should be resolved before an evacuation becomes urgent.
How the estimate works
The checker asks about applicable planning items and reports what remains unresolved. Pet and medical questions appear only when relevant so the result reflects your household rather than a fixed universal score. A completed checklist means the listed decisions have an answer; it does not mean those answers remain valid forever. Recheck destinations, contact information, vehicle readiness, medication supply and pet arrangements periodically, and especially after a move or major household change.
Where the result can be wrong
This is not an evacuation order, route planner or local hazard alert. Always follow local emergency management instructions and current road, shelter and weather information. Do not delay an official evacuation in order to finish packing or complete the checker. Routes and shelters can change during an event, and some hazards require leaving much earlier than others. The tool is for pre-event planning, not real-time navigation or deciding whether an evacuation order applies to you.
Questions people ask about this tool
Why is there no readiness score?
A percentage can hide one critical unresolved issue. The tool reports the actual open decisions instead.
Should I plan more than one route?
Yes when practical, because roads and hazards can change.
Do I need a destination before an evacuation warning?
Having primary and backup destination ideas reduces decision pressure later.
What about medications?
Keep medication access, refill information and transport needs in the evacuation plan.