What Would You Grab If There Were An Emergency Evacuation?

Preparing for the “what ifs”. Scarlett - spruce-us.com

I’ve lived on the East Coast of Florida now for nearly half my life. Either at the beach or even occasionally oceanfront. I’ve evacuated due to hurricanes more times than I could possibly count. We’ve rebuilt and/or restored 2 of our own properties due to severe flooding caused by storm surge when hurricanes were merely passing by, not a direct hit (thank God).

I came to Florida as a young lady from Tennessee thinking I’d head back to Tennessee (or maybe Atlanta) within a couple of years. I grew up dodging tornadoes and dealing with snow & ice storms in Tennessee but not evacuating for any reason. On my first chance to move back to Tennessee, I was back there for 5 years (along with my Florida born & raised hubby and our 2 yr old son). One of those 5 years was one of the worse ice storms on record. The city (Memphis) survived and so did we. Let’s just say the hubby who had only ever lived in Florida & a 5 year stint in Hawaii was not a happy camper (or surfer in his case).

THEN during one of our last 5 years back in Tennessee, we had just bought a home on a gorgeous 1+ acre lot (in Germantown, just outside of Memphis) and were waiting on the move-in date when the townhouse we had been renting caught on fire (someone’s faulty chimney). Twenty-two units went up in flames. Many burning to the ground. The fire was extinguished halfway through our unit. It literally looked liked someone had drawn a line right down the middle of our two story unit. One half was charred & soaking wet from the firefighters putting the fire out and the other side looked totally normal. The ceiling in parts of the upstairs (our son’s room & part of the hallway) had collapsed onto the floor. Our bedroom (also upstairs) looked like a bomb had gone off. My closet door was actually blown off of the hinges and was lying on our bed. Every, single thing inside charred beyond recognition! One big melted mess, including my wedding dress (which I was planning to properly store once we got moved into our new home). My husband’s closet however was mostly just a bit of water & smoke damage. It was truly strange. I always wondered what the heck caused such severely different damage in the same room, along the same wall even.

The night of the fire was in January. It gets REALLY cold in Memphis that time of year. Our son had fallen asleep between us in our bed while I was reading & the hubby was watching a basketball game (feels like yesterday). I thought I smelled smoke but at first didn’t think much about it because most everyone that time of year has their fireplaces going (except for us because I detest the mess of a wood burning fire). I then remember saying to the hubby, “someone’s fireplace smells REALLY strong tonight”. I got out of bed, looked out of our bedroom window & saw a massive fire down the way. I told my husband, “it looks like someone’s place is on fire”. I remember not being freaked out, just saying it very matter of fact (in total disbelief I guess).

My husband jumped out of bed, ran to the window that I was still staring out of and said, “we’ve got to get out of here”. Still in disbelief and thinking how sad it was for whoever lived in that unit & hoping they were okay, I said…”we just need to call 911”. Before we could pick up the phone to call, there was a loud banging on our front door downstairs. It was a firefighter going door to door telling people to get out. NOW! We never heard any sirens before I looked out the window and saw the flames 21 doors away. In all honesty, there are always lots of sirens & things going on in Memphis (as in most cities) so it’s possible there were sirens and we just were totally tone deaf to them.

Without thinking, we grabbed up our sleeping boy, his favorite little pillow which he was sleeping with at the time and our little Westie, Kirby along with his crate & leash. I grabbed by purse. My hubby grabbed his wallet & both sets of car keys. We VERY quickly threw on shoes & coats & out we ran into the freezing night. I honestly thought we would all just go wait in the car until the fire was put out then go back in. The unit on fire was a long way from ours after all (little did I know the fire would spread like that & SO quickly). We all still had our PJs on. From the front side of our building you couldn’t even see any fire or smoke at all!

The next thing I know, my hubby said, “we need to go get a hotel for the night & let them make sure there’s no danger going back in tommorrow”. Off we went to a hotel near by. We knew this hotel well because it had a wonderful Italian Restaurant downstairs that we loved. We were all safe, we took both cars and literally the clothes (well, PJs) on our backs. We called my parents who lived about an hour’s drive away to let them know we were okay & where we were staying just incase the fire hit the local news (it did and how!). Of course, they insisted we come to their house but we wanted to stay close by incase we could get back in the next day.

The next morning (still in our PJs & heavy coats) we drove back to the townhouse to see if it was safe to go back. It was not! There were still firefighters on the scene. The fire was out but they apparently had worked all night making sure & going door to door checking inside each unit to assure there wouldn’t be any flareups.

There were local news crews all over the place & The Red Cross was already on the scene to lend assistance. Everything was tapped off (to show units had been checked and cleared and to keep people out) & either boarded up or burned down (sometimes a bit of both). It was surreal to say the least. If this whole fire thing & being temporarily homeless thing wasn’t bad enough…some news crew person came up to me, asked me who knows what (I don’t remember) and quoted me (supposedly, not sure what I said to be honest).

Not exactly how you want your 5 minutes of fame!!! Yes, I was also in ‘The Commercial Appeal’ (back when people actually read the newspapers). Couldn’t they tell by looking at me that I was probably in shock? Fact is… I’ll talk to a tree if that’s all that is available at any given time (they couldn’t have known this of course but it’s true). NOTE: in any situation where you have gone through some sort of tragedy, don’t give interviews until you’ve had time to process “things”. Run, don’t walk away from microphones & cameras if possible! In my opinion, I was not in any shape to be talking to reporters. I apparently have a very approachable face. That & it was ingrained in me from a very young age not to be rude so….

From the outside, our unit looked intact. No broken windows. The front door was perfectly good, just taped off but not yet boarded up. There were firefighters everywhere and I remember us asking if everyone got out okay. We were told that everyone was accounted for (including all pets) & safe. Thank God!

We also asked if they knew what started it. We were told it was a faulty chimney of one of the tenants that caught fire & quickly spread through everyone’s attic space. Until it was extinguished halfway through our unit that is. Lucky number 22! To be clear, this was not tenant #1’s fault. There was no way they could have known their chimney was faulty. It could have happened to anyone (except us of course due to my aversion to messy wood burning fires).

IN FACT…it had happened in another unit in a totally different building about a year before. That fire only damaged the one unit where it originated. We had heard about it so I bought renter’s insurance. My hubby nearly had a meltdown & said I was just being paranoid and wasting money (it wasn’t that expensive and a bargain under the circumstances). We had been looking to buy a home & in his mind, we could be moving any second (right? sure mister).

Since my hubby was being so resistant to the idea of renter’s insurance (trust me, get it if you can). I set up the appointment one day when hubby wasn’t home. The Insurance Agent came by and did a walk-thru of our unit. He made notes of our contents. Closets, drawers & all. He even looked in the attic since I told him we did use it for some storage. There was also an attached storage unit that was kept locked on our patio. He made note of the fact that we owned a grill, patio furniture, etc. He made note that even the washer & dryer was ours but did say it was unusual for renters to have their own washer & dryer. I told him our lease would state they were ours & not rented. I also told him we moved from a house in Florida that we had sold & were planning on buying another home in Memphis so we brought the washer/dryer with us and anyway…we had receipts for everything that wasn’t passed down - another must, keep receipts & good records.

We had several antiques as well since I’ve been collecting since I was a young girl. I inherited several pieces & sets from both my grandmother & my great grandmother as well. It’s almost impossible to put a replacement value on antiques as far as the renters insurance industry goes but they were certainly of immeasurable value to me.

I bought the renter’s insurance that very day! The agent advised me to make a video of the contents of our unit. Every closet, drawer, toy, piece of furniture…EVERYTHING! Including the attic & patio area. He also advised me to not keep that copy (the days of VCR tapes) on the premises but to rent a lockbox at the bank for safe keeping (which I did and boy am I glad I did!). I could do an entire blog post on dealing with insurance companies. While the selling agent was above & beyond, once we had the fire…that was a totally different story. I’ll just say, thank goodness for the video of contents locked away safely at the bank and our meticulous record & receipt keeping (also in our bank’s safety deposit box). Whether you are a renter or a homeowner, these records & videos are a MUST! We just never know what may happen & when. JUST DO IT! ASAP.

As it turned out, this entire townhouse complex did not have firewalls (a very good question to ask before renting apartments, townhouses, duplexes, etc., btw). I did know the attic space was open from one unit to the other but certainly never thought about a fire spreading that way. I was more concerned about possible thief. Although, it seemed very unlikely that anyone would navigate that space to go through someone’s holiday decorations (at least that’s where all of ours were stored along with a few items we only occasionally used-like the hubby’s surf board). I do remember worrying someone could access our unit from another unit by coming down through the attic’s drop down ceiling door.

My hubby said no one was EVER going to do that (it was a very nice complex with mostly young families & young professionals). I reminded him that Ted Bundy was a seemingly nice, young professional at one point. He argued that I watch WAY TOO MANY true crime shows (debatable) but to shut me up (and to keep me from hiring someone-I’m way too short to have done that job correctly even on a tall ladder) he installed two heavy duty latches so no one could possibly gain access to our unit through the attic door. At least that problem was solved.

After the fire we ended up having to live in that hotel for over a week (pre-AirBNB being a thing) while we looked for a furnished apartment we could rent for about one month until our new home was ready to move into. The sweet couple we were buying the house from had built it many years prior and were moving just three doors down, into a house they had forever loved and was now available.

Our fire/emergency didn’t warrant a rush on them. I certainly never would even have considered asking if we could move the date up! They were in the middle of having quite a bit of work done on what would be their new home down the street. They did contact us however (when they saw my quote in the newspaper) and asked if we needed to back out of the deal. HECK NO! We needed that home now more than ever. That little street had the best, most helpful neighbors. Most of them had lived on that street for YEARS! Another bonus was the huge, established trees and lovely gardens on that street. We were excited before to get moved in but now, more than ever!

Those weeks went by super fast as we both worked full time and I dealt with the insurance adjustors regarding our renters insurance & the fire. Not an easy task. Let’s just say that persistence became my middle name & it sure didn’t hurt that I had very close friends who were big time, well known attorneys in the area (which I didn’t have to end up using but I sure was ready to & the insurance dudes knew it).

It amazes me when I think back to the fact that we also had a small child who we worked really hard to try to make things as normal as possible. All new clothes & shoes had to be bought for 3 humans. We originally bought the basics & of course work clothes for the two of us. We were smart shoppers for sure. With a small child who out grows clothes & shoes so fast, we bought plenty but then my parents went a bit overboard. I had to ask them to stop. It was getting a bit crazy. Nice but….

All new furniture except for our dining room table & chairs which were spared along with my great-grandmother’s china cabinet -all were in the front of the townhouse (the dining room) on the “untouched side” and were able to be saved. Beds, bedroom furniture, linens, living room furniture, bar stools, TVs, computers, etc., etc., etc. ANYTHING electronic had to be tossed. After all of that…HELLO new washer & dryer even. Ironic.

The insurance company had a salvage company come & remove everything from our townhouse and take it all to see what could be saved. Let’s just say…not much. The lady that ran that salvage company couldn’t have been sweeter. She kept in touch and let us know how it was all going. I got a phone call one day that we should come & see everything now that her company had done all it could to salvage & “de-smoke” everything.

It was shocking! What wasn’t burned beyond recognition (and already tossed by her once the insurance company came by to see it) was mostly ruined by watermarks. It was like a combination of a fire & a flood property wise.

She had everything placed in categories by room mostly. BUT the first section we came to was all of our son’s toys that were able to be cleaned and saved. He was with us that day (she mentioned that we might want to bring him, that she had something for him). He was so excited to see so many of his prized possessions saved! No stuffed animals were saved but thankfully he wasn’t a big stuffed animal fan anyway. With his bedroom ceiling coming down it basically protected many things below. Some of his toys were also in the living room (untouched side of unit except for water damage). Plus, most little boy’s toys are wood, metal or plastic anyway which was easily cleaned & just like new. All of his books & Disney movies were replaced by me ASAP. We wanted his little boy world to be back to normal as soon as possible (and he did love his books & Disney movies).

There really wasn’t much for us to look at as she & the insurance company had already deemed most of it a complete loss. Our son played with his toys while we walked around like Zombies through the sections of rubble. All very surreal indeed.

We ended up staying an extra 2 months in what was supposed to be a one month furnished rental apartment. With no furniture yet (except for the dining room), we decided to do some renovations on our new house before moving in. We had already planned on having the entire interior of the house painted before moving in & removing the kitchen wallpaper. Those things were already budgeted, booked & scheduled anyway.

BUT now, why not do even more? We decided to have the wall removed between the dining room & family room to open the space up. It made a world of difference! So the wall came down first, then the kitchen wallpaper was removed, then the painting crew came in. The wood floors were actually in mostly perfect condition but we did have to have the section where the wall was removed patched in & matched stain wise (you could never tell the difference) as well as the ceiling patched & painted where the wall was too. We had to have a load bearing beam added in the attic as support where that wall was removed.. *We used a contractor for all of this which cost a bit more but since he had the best subcontractor connections & I really didn’t want the ceiling ever falling on anyone’s head…it was well worth every penny!

Remember, all during this time, I’m also furniture shopping. Making decisions like a mad woman! Building my nest over time on my two days off. I did take one full week off when this all initially happened & was offered time off as much as needed by the firm I worked for but I didn’t want my troubles to become a burden on the others I worked with so….

I basically worked with 4 major furniture companies & was able to pull it all together. Many pieces took longer than others because there were several custom pieces. My theory was, as long as we had beds, clothes on our backs & food to eat…we might as well get the furniture we wanted for our new home even if it took a bit longer to come in. It was worth it in the end and as a matter of fact we still have some of those pieces today. They have been reupholstered a few times over the years but they are quality & classic pieces that will stand the test of time.

Our little home came together bit by bit. We were fully furnished & moved in before we knew it. With all that we had to do, it kept us moving forward and there wasn’t time to really stop & think about it all too much. I guess I finally wore the insurance company down AND they realized we lost more than our renter’s insurance covered so they cut us a check for the full coverage amount. It certainly didn’t cover all that was lost but we managed. Most renter’s insurance only covers a certain amount. It’s not like homeowners insurance that is based on the value of your home and then you can add extra coverage if you have exceptional valuables (jewels, paintings, antiques, etc.). BUT again, I advise getting renter’s insurance if you’re renting. No matter for how long too.

Our new home had a huge backyard & was a great escape anytime we needed a break. The previous owners who built that house were both expert gardeners. It looked like a beautiful park back there. A major reason why we bought it. There were so many variety of plants that we actually asked the previous owners to come by & give us advice on how to keep everything alive. There were also huge oak trees in the front & back which were strong & beautiful. Our first summer there, we tilled a little patch in the very back & even planted a vegetable garden. It was a great project to do with our little boy.

The hubby & my father built the coolest treehouse for our son. It still stands today. Whenever we’re in Memphis (well, actually Germantown) we always drive by. If you look just so between the houses you can catch a glimpse of it. Such awesome memories & in hard times I like to think back to those days & what all we endured (without falling apart or totally losing our minds).

After all of that, we only ended up staying in that Germantown house for a couple more years. The hubby was ready for us to move back to Florida. The severe winters weren’t for him and I agreed, moving back to Florida where our boy could grow up on the beach was best for us all. As luck would have it, our sweet next door neighbor’s sister was looking to move closer to her family from Atlanta. The house never even went on the market. Her sister bought the house without even coming herself to take a look. Of course, her sister & brother-in-law next door came by a couple of times and even took a few pictures that were sent to her. It was meant to be. We were very happy for them all.

I know everyone is not so lucky. Although we certainly didn’t feel lucky at the time. I am in no way trying to compare what we went through to anyone else. I’m merely trying to share our story which is on a much smaller scale to many other tragedies. No one tragedy can ever compare to another & no matter how big or small, I feel for the people who endure them.

Back to Florida: Preparing to evacuate for a Hurricane is no doubt, beyond exhausting. You not only prepare for leaving your home but also try to prepare your home against flooding. Lots of sand bags lugged about & placed in hopes that they will actually work. Gathering your Hurricane Evacuation “stuff” is a chore. You never really know how long you may have to be gone. How many days of clothes, medications, pet needs.

It. Is. Exhausting!

We keep a Hurricane List of “to -dos” before leaving our home. A “Batten Down The Hatches” type list. We also have a list of what to take (although it varies some depending on the situation). Every year there are lists put out for different evacuation zones throughout Florida of things to do, things to take, things to buy in case you don’t have to evacuate but you may very well lose power.

These lists don’t change that much year to year except for evacuation routes as the population of Florida continues to explode. I still take a look at these lists each year to make sure I’m up to date on what we need to do. Even after all these years! I also pay special attention to our local news, national news & the weather channels as well as a couple of weather apps. My husband having been born & raised on the East Coast of Florida and living oceanfront for many of those years AND being a surfer is truly a good barometer for all things hurricane related. Our newbie neighbors always ask for his advice when a hurricane is looming. My only advice is, if there’s a chance that we may lose power (A/C) then I’m gone!

My best advice is to stay on top of your insurance needs. Seriously look over your policy & needs each year. Needs change. Make sure if your property value has gone up (as it has pretty much everywhere here in Florida) you increase your coverage to match your property value & any new, valuable contents. Let your insurance agent know if you’ve had a new roof or new windows installed, additions added on, etc. Any upgrades inside your home too! These upgrades will need to be added to your coverage unless you only want to be reimbursed for the old “stuff”. *Check with your insurance company. This is how ours works here in Florida at least.

Being prepared for what may happen is WAY better IMO than not having any or enough coverage. Also, being organized as to what you would take with you in case of emergency. It may be a grab & go like we had to do when we had the fire.

Take a weekend & give it some real thought. SOON! Make a list. I’m a huge list maker-on paper/notebooks & in my Notes on my phone. Being organized & prepared is key. What’s the saying? Prepare for the worse but hope for the best. I hope nothing tragic like a home fire, flood, hurricane, etc., etc., etc., ever happens to you or your loved ones. Being prepared helps relieve some of the stress for me (especially living in Florida as Hurricane Season looms each year). Things in life are often out of our control but being as prepared & as organized as possible certainly can help.

Stay safe & stay organized.

Happy Sprucing! ~Scarlett