Chapter 34. What to Do When You Receive an Evacuation Instruction
An evacuation instruction may arrive through a smartphone alert, local emergency-notification system, law-enforcement announcement, emergency broadcast, or official agency account. Whether the danger involves a wildfire, flood, hazardous-material release, earthquake damage, or another emergency, acting promptly can protect your household and keep roads clear for emergency responders.
Residents of Pleasanton, Dublin, Livermore, San Ramon, Danville, Sunol, and surrounding Tri-Valley and Bay Area communities should understand the difference between preparing to leave and being ordered to leave.
An evacuation warning means a potential threat exists and residents should prepare to evacuate. People who need additional time—including older adults, individuals with disabilities, households without dependable transportation, families with young children, and residents with animals—should consider leaving during the warning.
An evacuation order means there is an immediate threat to life. Leave without delay. Cal OES advises residents to follow directions from law enforcement and use the routes identified by officials. Responders may not have time to visit every home.
Confirm What the Instruction Requires
Read or listen to the complete official message. Identify:
- Whether it is a warning or an order
- The geographic area or evacuation zone affected
- When residents must leave
- The authorized evacuation route
- Roads or areas that must be avoided
- The evacuation center or temporary assembly location
- Where to obtain updated information
- Whether transportation assistance is available
Do not assume that an instruction issued for a nearby neighborhood applies in exactly the same way to your address. At the same time, do not delay departure while waiting for repeated alerts, a personal telephone call, or someone to knock on your door.
If fire, smoke, floodwater, structural damage, or another immediate danger threatens you before an alert arrives, leave if you can do so safely and call 911 from a safe location.
Account for Everyone
Quickly determine where each household member is. Do not delay evacuation to drive into another dangerous area to collect someone who is already at school, work, childcare, or a care facility. Those locations may be following their own emergency procedures.
Send a concise message through your designated family contact:
“I am evacuating from ____. I am going to ____. I will update you when I arrive.”
Confirm who is traveling in each vehicle and where the household plans to reunite. If someone cannot be contacted, provide the person’s last known location to the appropriate authorities. Do not begin an unauthorized search inside a restricted area.
Take Only Accessible Essentials
If a go-bag is already prepared, take it. Collect only essential items that are immediately accessible:
- Essential medications and medical information
- Mobility equipment and necessary medical devices
- Identification, payment cards, cash, and important documents
- Phones, chargers, and backup batteries
- Eyeglasses and hearing aids
- Water and portable food
- Keys
- Basic clothing
- Pet carriers, leashes, medication, food, and identification
Do not search through closets, storage areas, attics, or multiple rooms for replaceable possessions. Do not remain to pack valuables, furniture, decorations, or extensive clothing. Ready.gov recommends taking an emergency supply kit and leaving early enough to avoid becoming trapped by changing conditions or traffic. Its evacuation guidance can help households prepare in advance.
Assist Dependents Without Creating Additional Danger
Help children, older adults, people with disabilities, and anyone with medical or mobility needs enter the vehicle safely. Bring wheelchairs, walkers, oxygen equipment, communication devices, medication, and other essential equipment when they are readily available.
Do not separate a person from a service animal. Secure pets in carriers or with appropriate leashes and harnesses before opening exterior doors. Frightened animals may hide or escape, which is why carriers and pet supplies should be prepared before an emergency.
If someone needs accessible transportation or cannot evacuate safely, contact the transportation number provided in the official alert. Call 911 when there is an immediate threat to life. Ready.gov offers additional planning guidance for people with disabilities and pets.
Secure the Home Only When Time Permits
If there is no immediate danger and officials have not directed otherwise, take a few simple actions before leaving:
- Close windows and exterior doors.
- Lock doors.
- Close the garage door.
- Turn off appliances that could create a hazard.
- Move combustible outdoor items away from the building if they are immediately accessible and time allows.
- Leave exterior lights on if useful to responders.
Do not climb onto a roof, begin watering the property, install last-minute fire protection, move heavy objects, or perform complicated utility shutoffs. Shut off gas, electricity, or water only when authorities instruct you to do so or an immediate hazard requires action that you can perform safely.
Your home is not more important than the time needed for a safe departure.
Follow the Official Route and Destination
Use the route specified by law enforcement or emergency-management officials, even if another road seems faster. Conditions may have changed, and familiar routes may contain fire, smoke, floodwater, debris, downed power lines, damaged pavement, or responder equipment.
Keep vehicle windows closed when smoke or hazardous outdoor air is present. Drive carefully with headlights on, watch for emergency personnel, and do not block intersections, fire lanes, or road shoulders. Never move barricades, use private roads without authorization, or follow emergency vehicles.
Go to the announced evacuation center, safe destination, or previously selected location outside the affected area. Register at an evacuation center if requested so officials and family members can account for you.
Cal OES explains that officials determine evacuation areas and routes according to the location and behavior of the hazard. Once an order is issued, residents should leave immediately and not return for forgotten belongings. Review its current explanation of evacuation warnings and orders.
Do Not Return Until Authorized
After reaching safety, send a brief confirmation to your designated contact. Continue monitoring official alerts because shelters, road conditions, and evacuation boundaries may change.
Do not return because smoke appears lighter, a neighborhood post claims the road is open, or someone says officials are no longer present. Reentry may be unsafe because of active fire, unstable structures, gas leaks, electrical hazards, contaminated water, or ongoing emergency operations.
Wait for an official reentry announcement applying to your specific evacuation zone.
Helpful Hint
Do not spend valuable evacuation time searching for replaceable belongings. People, medications, mobility equipment, pets, identification, and immediate safety come first.
Important Safety Reminder
An evacuation order means leave now. Follow the authorized route, take only accessible essentials, assist household members without unnecessary delay, and never return until authorities declare your area safe.
Important Preparedness and Safety Notice
This chapter provides general preparedness education, not real-time emergency instructions. Conditions, evacuation zones, routes, shelters, road closures, and public-safety directions can change rapidly. During an emergency, consult current information from authorized public agencies and follow all instructions issued by emergency officials. Call 911 for an immediate threat to life, active fire, serious injury, crime in progress, or another urgent emergency.
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