15 minutes to grab essentials - what would you take?

[Papergirl1968]

I hope this isn’t insensitive in light of Whaley Bridge, but it got me thinking, if I was in a similar situation, what would I grab in 15 minutes?
I wouldn’t have left without dcat. Otherwise precious photos, (adopted) dds’ memory books, camera and iPad as there are further photos on those, a few clothes. I’m not very materialistic so don’t have much jewellery or stuff like that. Passports, birth certificates, school exam certificates etc if I had time.
What would you grab?

People, pets and essential pet paraphernalia (the dog's medication, lead, enough food to last a few days)
Passports, birth certificates, insurance documents.
Hairdressing scissors, straighteners, blow dyer, clippers - they're expensive and I kind of need them to do my job. Being homeless and unemployed wouldn't help anyone.
Phones, chargers, debit and credit cards.

Any remaining time would be spent gathering enough clothes and non-perishable food to last a few days.

cats
dd1s medicines
paper work/passports
charges, phones, ipads
vape juices/vape
handbag with purse and cards in

Changes of clothes if I had time left

My friend's been evacuated from Whaley. She went back to get the cats and grabbed birth certificates and passports. No time to get anything else as the cats weren't cooperating

We'd have one DTwatCat each, a cold bag with my Humira and travel sharps bin, passports, phones and chargers, headphones and bank cards. And my notebook with a couple of pencils and a sharpener.

In terms of what we'd be wearing, a vest, t-shirt and jumper (even if it's hot, it won't be for long) a woolly hat and a fleece blanket that usually goes over the settee.

If you asked DP, there would probably be somewhere in the region of 10 IKEA bags full of shit and a packed lunch.

needless to say, in the event of a disaster, I will most likely end up leaving without him

Ultimately the only important thing is life. So go back for documents, medicine (although I think you could get that supplied later). Photos, probably only thing that can’t be replaced.

Children would need most precious cuddly.

Few pants and clothes, but really you can buy new.

The cat wouldn’t come home, so cat would have to survive or not. Dogs and indoor pets are easier to collect.

I hope they can hold the dam. Unthinkable really.

I’m a volunteer firefighter in a bushfire prone region (though my house is unlikely to be affected), so all summer I carry 1 go-bag in the car in case I get deployed at short notice (shower stuff, tampons/pads, baby wipes, toothbrush + toothpaste, couple of pairs of pants, socks, shorts, T-shirt, thick fleece. Oh and a couple of packs of gummy sweets and cartons of orange juice!!) and have one bag packed hidden-but-explainable (e.g. bright orange hold all in the second cupboard on the left from the back door) containing passport, insurance docs, birth certificate, health card and hard drive, all of which are also backed up on drop box and google docs (and works server, but ssshhh!!)

Photo of my late parents, the cat, cat box and some cat food, medicines, glasses, car keys, handbag, mobile phone and charger, dh's vintage Gibson guitar. A few cloths and toiletries. Laptop and charger.

If I had time and the room, I have a lot of non-fiction text books that would be very hard to replace - I'd have to try and bring a few of those.

The cat would be my first priority, would just hope he didnt decide to go on one his long roams and disappear.
My glasses, ideally some disposable contacts but I could do without them as long as I have my back up gags.
Bank cards, phone, tablet and charger.
Concealer and some hair ties.
If there was time, an old book my gran gave me, I would be sorry to lose that.
Passport/birth certificate, although these would be lower priority as can be replaced.
Clothes and toiletries if I had time.

I was talking to DH about this earlier. I know a family in WB and they haven’t been evacuated but last night they packed just incase. If they have to gi, they are ready.

Id take chargers, clothes for a week, purse, my file with certificates and photos and my box of memories.

I have a partly already packed suitcase as a result of travelling frequently for work. Cosmetics, medicines, charging cables etc are always ready to go.

I'd grab that plus clothes and have it packed in well under five mins easily.

Dog and dog food, lead, is next but again have some spares in the car so ready to go.

Some sentimental jewellery and a couple of ££& watches plus all keys.

If time then tech - hard drive, laptops etc. Because they are expensive but also v useful if away from home.

The events in my city revealed that a lot of people either weren’t insured at all or were woefully under insured.

And the lists. Friends spent months trying to remember every single thing they had, eve down to the numbers on the outside of their house. Three years on, some people have had to issue court proceedings against their insurers. Around 1000 homes have been rebuilt. There’s still 1500 that haven’t.

I’m annoyed at the people who, possibly for legitimate reasons I don’t know, went back into their houses for the allowed 15 minutes but never checked back out again

They are putting peoples lives at risk as the emergency services need to go into the town to try and locate them

I wouldn’t let DH do it
He would need 15 years never mind 15 minutes and then would still say he couldn’t find anything

this!!

Had the conversation with my dh after reading this thread of "what would you take?" and he just shrugged and said he's probably just grab a load of random stuff in a panic. Even when prompted he didn't get it!

I'd grab the hard drives with all the photos on, birth and marriage certs, passports (all
in same room so far), box of photos that aren't digital, a few days worth of essentials clothing wise. That's about it really. Photos are the only thing I can think of that are important to me and irreplaceable.

@RedElephants I posted a link upthread for a wikihow on go bags. Also refered to as 'bug out' bags. It does depend what area you're in and what type of emergency. We have food and water and stuff which is recommended here because we're actually at a small risk of having to fend for ourselves for a couple of days if the 'big one' hits.

In the urban areas of the UK you'd generally be assisted by the emergency services fairly quickly in most areas. So documents, spare clothes, anything you would need in a day or two. Plus anything you can't live without.

Open safe and grab passports and file of certificates (wedding, birth certs etc in there as well as degrees and professional ones).

Up to attic and grab 2 suitcases.
Throw clothes for dd into first while up there. And Max the bear, and 1 blanket (she has a lot of soft blankets to snuggle under when upset).

Back to our room, clothes for DH and I.
I’d also take some jewelry that is sentimental.
Toiletries for all of us.

Into spare bedroom and a couple of useful things from camping shelf in the wardrobe. Torches, sporks, small day sack etc.

Downstairs and grab the tech (iPads and chargers, Mac), and my current X stitch project (small pouch but useful to keep me busy).
Photo albums from sitting room.
My handbag and probably both DH and my work bags too.

And some food as I go - snack items (savory and sweet), mini bottle of squash, empty water bottles would be filled, a couple of cans of fizzy drinks, possibly the bottle of gin.

If I had 20 minutes, the 2 cars would be well loaded up with plenty of clothes, food, camping kit, tools, and a couple of sentimental items, just in case we couldn’t get back, but only 10 would be pretty much what’s written here.

This thread makes me wonder why so many people have cats. They sound painful!

It's a combination of Stockholm syndrome and being trapped in an abusive relationship crusty. .

They weedle their ways into your lives using their irresistible cuteness and enchanting personalities and then proceed to act like absolute shits most of the time but retain enough adorability to mean that you never stop loving them.

Disappearing at inopportune moments such as when a vets appointment or indeed emergency evacuation looms is one of the top five cat behaviours that they like to exhibit to remind you who is boss.

to the inevitable Whaley Bridge cat slaves who were unable to round up their feline overlords at the necessary time. Hopefully when you are allowed to return home they will all be safely sat on your doorsteps perfecting their 'where the fuck have you been' face.

Those of you who have a bag already packed, are you having to get stuff out of it on a regular basis as 'essential' things are in there?

I suppose the 'grab bag' people have spares of whatever is in there as the idea is that it is instantly available which it wouldn't be if the need for the bag coincided with someone 'borrowing' the spare clean pants, phone charger etc.

@BarbaraofSeville

I think animalsearch. Uk have been going in with the police to rescue or feed animals that were left behind, it's heartwarming to know that people care.

BarbaraofSeville

Most definitely everything in the bags are duplicates otherwise they wouldn’t last in the bag for long!

15 minutes - hitch trailer to car, load one horse (other is a massive pain in the arse and won't load, so will have to takes its chances). If chickens can be caught, then catch and put in cage in trailer. Ditto cat.

Throw in assortment of rugs and a couple of bales of hay (if needed, depending on reason for the situation), first aid kit and horses medication.

That would take 10 minutes.

Leaves 5 mins to do a fast sweep of the house and grab precious photos, jewellery and electronics, armful of clothes and hurl all in the back of the car.

Exactly what we would grab would depend on the emergency - ie would food / water need to be a consideration, is the house going to be destroyed, what time of year is it etc

It would take me more than 15 minutes to get ds medications and essentials sorted.

Then insurance and birth certificate type things if time