What to do if you have to leave home

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Do this now

Leave when the authorities tell you to, or at once if the danger is right in front of you. Do not wait to see whether it gets worse.
Take the grab bag, your medicines, your documents, keys, phone and charger, and the pets in their carrier or on a lead. Dress for the weather and put on sturdy shoes.
Switch off appliances except the fridge and freezer, put out any flame, close the windows and doors, and turn off the water. Follow the authorities’ instructions for shutting off the gas. If there is no time for all of this, leave anyway.
Leave a note on the door: when you left, where you are going, who is with you and a phone number. Put a card with a name and a contact number in the pocket of each child and of anyone who may get confused.
Follow only the routes the police or the authorities announce, and go where you are sent: to family or to a reception centre. If you drive, keep the windows shut, do not block the roads, and send a relative your registration number and destination.
Knock on the neighbours' doors, especially those who are older, ill or alone. At the assembly point, tell the staff about anyone who needs help.
Register when you arrive, and do not go back until the authorities say the area is safe.

One bag per person, children included. Water and food you can eat without cooking for Status: Verified hours; the home kit covers the rest.
Your medicines for at least Status: Verified, with the prescriptions, spare glasses and hearing-aid batteries, and a small first-aid kit.
Copies of ID, insurance and other key papers in a waterproof pouch, your printed plan, a list of numbers on paper, and cash in small notes: Status: Verified per adult and Status: Verified per child.
A torch, a battery or wind-up radio, a power bank and the cables.
A warm layer, rain protection, spare underwear, hygiene items, and a sleeping bag or blanket.
For children, a favourite blanket or toy and something to play with. For pets, a carrier, lead, muzzle, food, a bowl and their papers.
See the emergency kit checklist.

Decide where you would go: family or friends outside town first, a reception centre if there is no one. Agree Status: Verified meeting points and one contact outside the area in your household plan.
Find the water, gas and electricity shut-offs, mark them with coloured tape, and show everyone in the household how they work.
Agree who collects the children. Schools and crèches have their own plans and may be evacuated before you can reach them.
Reception centres may not take pets; in some countries they never do. Decide now where your pet would go: a friend, family or a kennel outside town.
Keep the car at least Status: Verified full. Fuel pumps stop when the power does.

Go back only when the authorities say you can, by the route they give.
Check the fridge and freezer before you eat anything from them. Power is out says what to keep and what to throw away.
Tell your contact outside the area that you are home, and take the note off the door.
Restock the grab bag: water, food, batteries, cash, medicines.
Talk with your household about what happened. Ask for help if you or your children are still distressed.

Put a card with your name and phone number in each child's pocket, and let them carry their own small bag with a favourite toy or blanket.
Say where you are going and why, in plain words, and keep them close in the crowd at the assembly point.

Register with your municipal administration now if you would need transport or help to leave. The authorities organise it, but only for people they know about.
Pack your medicines, your aids and their chargers first, and tell the staff at the centre what you need.

Take them with you in a carrier or on a lead, with food, water and their papers. If you are forced to leave a pet behind, leave food and water out, leave a piece of clothing with your scent, and tell the rescue services where it hides.

Take the stairs, not the lift, and help neighbours who find the stairs hard. Agree in advance who checks on whom.