Frequently asked questions

Help may be delayed, shelters may be full or distant, and normal services may be unavailable. FEMA uses 72 hours as a minimum sustainment benchmark and contemplates up to 14 days for evacuation and shelter planning. Keep well-stocked supplies at home, at work, and in your vehicles — and treat the 72-hour figure as a floor, not a promise that aid will arrive.

Disasters separate people in different ways, so each location covers a different failure: a safe spot for an immediate hazard such as fire or a tornado warning; a nearby rendezvous after evacuating the building; a location reachable if the home area is inaccessible; and a destination that still works if roads, schools, workplaces or the whole area is affected. Each one needs a physical address, an accessible route, an alternate route, an assigned adult contact and a go/no-go trigger — on paper as well as on phones.

Warmer, drier conditions and longer dry intervals are extending the period in which ignitions can spread, which is why many agencies now refer to a fire year rather than a fire season. Keep supplies, documents, contacts and animal plans current all year, update routes and defensible space before local high-risk periods, and raise readiness whenever heat, drought, wind, low humidity, red-flag warnings, holidays, festivals, conflict or utility shutoff conditions converge.

Someone who returns to an evacuation zone for a pet, livestock, documents or belongings can become an additional rescue problem and delay first responders. Pre-commit instead: assign one person to each animal or livestock group, keep carriers, leashes, halters, medication, food, water, identification and veterinary records ready, and identify at least two animal-friendly destinations plus a backup boarding, stable or mutual-aid contact.

In many high-risk markets households face rising premiums, non-renewals and reduced coverage. Verify whether your policy covers wildfire, smoke, additional living expenses, rebuilding at current code, debris removal and detached structures; review deductibles, exclusions and any mitigation requirements; and keep a current video or photo inventory with policy documents stored off-site.

Put medication, keys, chargers, cash, documents, pet carriers and animal leads in one known location so nothing has to be searched for under pressure. A large kit is never a reason to stay late.

Wildfire evacuation orders can arrive as a warning level, a 'be ready' notice, or an immediate 'leave now' instruction that gives you minutes. Know your local evacuation levels and sign up for official alerts before fire season.

Clear dry debris from the roof, gutters, deck, vents and the immediate perimeter; cover vents; remove ember traps; and move flammable items away from structures. Embers can travel more than 2 km ahead of a fire front and ignite homes before flames arrive.

Severe drought also lowers stream, river, lake and reservoir levels and removes natural fire breaks and convenient water sources for suppression, which can allow fires to spread farther and faster. Prolonged drought can eventually reduce fine-fuel growth in some ecosystems, so it does not guarantee more fire everywhere — but where fuel remains, the landscape is more flammable and fire behaviour more extreme.

During major incidents, water availability can be constrained by dry reservoirs, reduced streamflow, damaged pumps, power outages, low pressure or competing municipal demand — a local, incident-scale strain rather than a driver of regional drought. Afterwards, ash, sediment, debris, metals and nutrients can wash into streams and reservoirs, increasing treatment requirements and reducing storage. Store, protect and conserve household water, and never treat hoses, pools or hydrants as a substitute for evacuating.

Wildfire smoke travels hundreds of kilometres and can affect people far from the fire itself. Keep N95 masks available, run filtration with backup power where possible, and plan for people with respiratory or cardiac conditions first. Masks do not make an evacuation zone safe.

Returning into a closed evacuation zone risks your life and pulls responders away from the incident. Wait for an official all-clear, and expect hazards such as hot ash pits, damaged utilities, weakened trees and contaminated water after you are allowed back.

Store at least 4 litres of water per person per day for drinking and sanitation, and fill bathtubs for washing. Add medications, backup power, fuel and a way to receive alerts if cell networks are overloaded.

Surge, not wind, is what makes coastal evacuation orders urgent. If officials order an evacuation for your zone, leave — a 72-hour window shrinks fast once the storm approaches.

Use storm shutters or 5/8-inch plywood instead, and reinforce garage doors, because wind entering a garage can lift the roof.

Hurricanes give days of warning, but storm surge gives hours. Plan two inland routes, because coastal roads can be underwater or blocked by debris well before landfall.

Floodwater hides washed-out roads, debris and live electrical hazards, and most flood deaths happen in vehicles. Find higher ground on foot only if you can do so safely.

Flash flooding is driven by rainfall upstream, so a dry street can flood from a storm several kilometres away. Move to higher ground immediately when a warning is issued.

Check your coverage before you need it, and document your property with photos and receipts. Standard policies typically exclude rising water.

Take documents, medication, cash, phones and chargers with you, and never enter a flooded basement or a building surrounded by water.

Put as many walls between you and the outside as possible, protect your head and neck, and avoid rooms with large windows or a wide roof span.

Wind damage comes from debris impact and structural failure, not from a pressure difference you can fix by opening a window.

Never shelter under a highway overpass — it concentrates wind and debris. Mobile homes are not safe shelter in any tornado warning.

Have a battery-powered or hand-crank weather radio, enable wireless emergency alerts, and know your shelter location before a warning is issued.

Confirm which local shelters accept animals and under what conditions, and keep a backup boarding or stable contact for large animals. Never leave an animal tethered or confined where it cannot escape.

Add a recent photo of you with the animal for proof of ownership, a litter tray or waste bags, and a favourite item to reduce stress. Keep the kit with your own go-bag so both leave together.

Pre-identify two destinations plus a backup, keep halters, leads and records ready, and coordinate with neighbours so a single regional disaster does not consume all available transport at once.

Returning for animals makes you an additional rescue problem and delays first responders. If you truly cannot take an animal, leave it loose indoors with food and water and tell responders or animal services it is there.

Keep microchip registration details current and store copies of vaccination records with your own documents, since shelters and boarding facilities often require them.