Hope the Worst Never Happens, But Plan Like It Will

Let me ask all of you, especially the family caregivers out there, a question.

What would you do if you received an evacuation order from your County Emergency Services office? You’re told you have 15 minutes to get yourself and the loved one you are caring for out of harm’s way. Do you have a plan?

Throughout my 25+ year professional career as a broadcast news journalist, I have covered a wide range of disasters and chaotic events. Some were man-made. Others were natural disasters: devastating hurricanes, flooding, and large wildfires, which destroyed hundreds of homes and claimed dozens of lives.

When my work role shifted to primarily that of family caregiver for my elderly, since-deceased mother, it was through disaster-colored lenses that I crafted part of her care and well-being.

My mother lived in Northern California with me from 2016 through 2020. By the time she passed at age 90, her health and physical condition had deteriorated to needing full assistance for all mobility and personal care.

I would often ask myself, “How will I get Mom to safety when a wildfire breaks out?”

Notice, I said “when,” not “if.” I’m not a doom-and-gloom person. Instead, I have been shaped by those professional experiences and hard data surrounding disasters.

In 2018 alone, CalFire (California’s state fire agency) reported 7,948 wildfires. Fourteen of those were in Butte County, where we lived. One of those, the Camp Fire, destroyed the town of Paradise, located about 30 miles from our home.

One of the most poignant stories I covered during that fire was about a husband and spousal caregiver. He had just enough time to hoist his bedridden wife and her wheelchair into a van. They narrowly escaped with their lives.

Washington state is not immune to disasters. Think of landslides, tsunamis, earthquakes, or wildfires. In 2024, data from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources indicates that there were 826 wildfires within their jurisdiction. The primary causes? Three hundred and five were considered undetermined, 78 were from lightning, and 443 were human caused.

I always knew I needed to have a non-negotiable approach to keeping my mother safe. If you are a family caregiver, I encourage you to do the same. Plan for the absolute worst, hope it never happens, but know you are ready if it does. Here are some of the steps I took:

1. Prepare and pack a “go bag” for each person. My mother’s bag included two changes of clothes, a week’s worth of underclothes, a package of adult underwear, personal toiletries, a week’s worth of her medications, toilet paper, body/hand wipes, and copies of her important documents, including insurance/Medicare cards, passport, AARP card, military identification, and contact information for her doctors.
2. Save copies of important documents. Make hard-copy copies, upload digitized versions to the cloud, and email them to other family members and/or yourself.
3. Know your evacuation routes. Not sure? Contact your local police or sheriff’s department.
4. Rehearse your emergency plan. When a life-or-death situation arises, it can be easy to lose focus in the moment.
5. Sign up with local emergency alert apps.
6. Keep your car’s gas tank filled. You might find long lines or stations that are already closed.
7. Be aware of existing emergency evacuation plans. Is your loved one residing at a professional care facility? Ask administrators in advance if they have an emergency evacuation plan and what that entails.
8. Research area hotels in advance that can accommodate your loved one.
9. Make time to digitize irreplaceable photos or family keepsakes.

Thankfully, I never had to evacuate my mother under emergency orders.

However, those emergency “go-bags” and a rehearsed plan? Well, it came in handy. In July 2024, I watched the Park Fire in Northern California consume my home. Sadly, I had not done step nine.

Learn more about preparing in advance for disaster events. Visit www.aarp.org/disasterprepwa.

Bellevue resident Julia Yarbough is an Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist, communications consultant, and freelance writer. She is the creator and publisher of Keeping It REAL Caregiving, a Substack newsletter and website.