Most evacuation checklists are one long list, which is useless in the only situation that matters. Nobody has "an evacuation" — they have five minutes, or an hour, or a warning that gives them until tomorrow. The list you need is different in each case.
This one is split by how much time you've got. Print it, keep it with the rest of your plan, and read down only as far as your clock allows.
The Checklist, by Time Available
Each tier includes everything above it. If you have an hour, do the five-minute list first and then keep going.
| You have | Do this | Skip |
|---|---|---|
| 5 minutes | People and pets out. Go bag, documents folder, medication, phone and charger, keys, wallet. Shoes and a coat. Leave. | Everything else, without exception |
| 1 hour | Fill the car with fuel. Water and food for a day. Chargers and power bank. Spare clothes. Photograph each room for insurance. Shut off utilities if instructed. | Packing to a standard. Cleaning. Anything replaceable |
| 6 hours | Withdraw some cash. Pet carriers, food, vet records. Irreplaceable items and hard drives. Tell your out-of-area contact where you're going. If flooding is expected and no evacuation has been ordered, moving valuables upstairs is worth it — only while it's safe to be in the building. | Furniture. Bulk food. Anything that fills the car you'll want for people |
| 1 day | Confirm where you're going and that they know. Charge everything. Fill the tank. Follow official guidance on timing, and go early if anyone in the household moves slowly or the route is limited. | Yard work, home hardening or anything else that should have been done before a warning was active |
One thing is worth saying about the bottom row. Leaving early is generally easier than leaving late, particularly for households with limited mobility, one vehicle, or a single road out. But timing during a large evacuation is managed by local authorities, and phased or staged orders exist for a reason — so the rule is to prepare to leave early and then follow the instructions you're given, not to outrun them.
The other pattern worth noticing is what disappears from the right-hand column as time shrinks. At a day, almost everything is possible. At five minutes, the list is people, medication and two objects. Households that have never looked at it this way tend to plan for the day and improvise the five minutes, which is exactly backwards — the five-minute version is the one that gets used.
Make It Yours
Cross out before you need it
No pets, no car, no basement, no medication — strike those lines now, with a pen, on the printed copy. Reading past irrelevant items costs seconds in the only scenario where seconds are the currency.
Name things, don't categorise them
"Medication" is a category. "Blue pouch, second shelf, bathroom cabinet" is an instruction someone else in the household can follow while you're doing something else. The same goes for the documents folder and the pet carrier.
Assign the lines
Write initials next to each item. In an actual departure, two adults working from the same unassigned list will do three of the same jobs and miss four others. Assigning takes two minutes now.
Assign the children too, if they're old enough. Shoes, coat, one comfort item, and being at the car is a real job for a child who can manage it, and it stops the pattern where an adult is carrying a bag in one hand and a barefoot child in the other.
What to Build First
The checklist is a sequence, not a shopping list, and it depends on two things existing.
- The go bag. Packed, by the door, light enough to carry. Covered in Go Bags & Evacuation Bags.
- The documents folder. Slim, water-resistant, stored with the bag rather than in a filing cabinet.
- The routes. Two, driven at least once, from Evacuation Plans.
- Everything else. Useful, and useless without the first three.
If wildfire is the realistic threat where you live, the timing and the contents both shift — the kit and the trigger points are covered in Wildfire Evacuation Kits & Checklists.
When to Review It
Once a year, alongside the plan and the smoke-alarm test. Then separately whenever the bag is opened for anything, because a go bag raided for a camping trip is a go bag with a missing charger.
Two checks that catch most problems: does the medication in the bag still have time on it, and does the car have enough fuel to reach your out-of-region rally point right now? The second one is a habit rather than a task — half a tank as a floor, not a full tank as a project.
Print it, cross out what doesn't apply, and put initials next to the five-minute lines. Ten minutes, and it's the version that works when you don't get to choose your window.
FAQ: Evacuation Checklist
What should be on an evacuation checklist?
People and pets, go bag, documents, medication, phone and charger, keys and wallet — in the first five minutes. Everything else depends on how much more time you have.
Why organise an evacuation checklist by time?
Because the amount of warning changes the correct actions completely. A single list forces you to triage under pressure, which is exactly when triage goes wrong.
Should I shut off the gas before evacuating?
Only if you suspect a leak or you've been instructed to. Shutting it off unnecessarily means waiting for the utility to restore it, and it must never be turned back on by anyone else.
Is the checklist different for a wildfire?
The timing is tighter, the triggers are different and the kit differs, which is why fire evacuation has its own page. The five-minute priorities are similar — people, pets, medication, documents — but hazard-specific guidance can change the order, so use the wildfire page if that's your risk.
What if I don't have a car?
Then the plan changes before the checklist does: who drives you, or which local transport assistance register you need to be on. That's arranged in advance, never on the day.
How is this different from the evacuation plan?
The plan is the drawing and the routes — where you go. This is what you do in the minutes before you go.
Sources
- Ready.gov — Evacuation
- FEMA — evacuation and sheltering guidance
- American Red Cross — evacuation planning
- U.S. Fire Administration
- State and county emergency management offices
When a warning is active, follow local authorities and official emergency instructions before any general guidance. See our Editorial Policy and Sources & Fact-Checking.