Evacuation - what do you do with your guns?

[.cheese.]

I live in an evacuation zone (I'm on the intracoastal waterway less than half a mile from the ocean). With "Fay" approaching (possibly a big nothing).... I'm wondering what to do with my gun stuff if we get evacuated (we always do). Just leave it locked up? My area is one of the first to lose power in a storm, so the alarm would be out, the shutters would be up and the doors would be locked, but who knows what lengths somebody would go to break in.

Most likely, Fay will be nothing but a little rain. I'm just thinking ahead since I'm already putting up the shutters (it's just me putting them up and this is a 2 story house with a lot of windows so I needed to start early).

 

[RP88]

I'd try and take it with you, unless that is out of the question because you have too much stuff. If that's the case, then I'd seal it away in the attic, where crooks won't generally go looking, and where flood water won't reach.

 

[ColinthePilot]

How many do you have? Is it too much stuff to load up in the car when you bug out?
When I lived in Florida, I never evacuated. We got hit a couple times, but I was a few miles inland so we never got forced to evac, and the water never got more than a foot or so. I stocked up on beer, gas, canned soup and some other essentials, loaded up all my mags, all my stripper clips (easy since I only had a pistol and an SKS at the time) and rode it out. If I had to leave, I would've skipped the beer, and loaded up the guns and ammo and headed for high ground.

 

[whosyrdaddy]

Take the sentimental stuff and over insure the rest.

 

[dogmush]

When I have to leave, I take a couple, close the RSC and chaulk the door to water proof it. If the stuff gets stolen, it's insured.

 

[jakemccoy]

Take the sentimental stuff and over insure the rest.

I agree. It's a possible SHTF situation. Survival mode wouldn't involve hauling around my entire gun collection.

 

[Steve Raacke]

I evacuated for Katrina. I don't have a lot of guns but what I had got packed in the trunk of the car and went with me. I'm not about to leave them behind for looters, or worse the government, to get ahold of.

 

[Zip7]

I'd seal it away in the attic, where crooks won't generally go looking, and where flood water won't reach.

It reached there during Katrina. In lots of places.

We've evacuated several times for hurricanes, but my home is not going to flood, nor is it very likely to be looted. Nonetheless, I have some that can't be replaced, and I take them with me.

I agree. It's a possible SHTF situation.

Of all the people affected by Katrina, it was only a SHTF situation for a tiny percentage of them. I mean in the sense that SHTF usually means on this forum. Being attacked by looters or zombies (there were no zombies, and the looting was confined to a very small area of the city).

Now when the water in your house is 8 ft deep, and rising fast, and you are still at home, I'd say that qualifies as SHTF, but you certainly aren't going to be robbed at that point, or if you are, it would be by Navy Seals. More likely you'd be in attic yourself trying to hack a hole in the roof before you drown.

I lived through all the aftermath of Katrina - 4 weeks w/ no electricity, etc.. The whole time I never saw an agent of any government anywhere near my house, and I open-carried a Stihl chainsaw the whole time. I know many others who stayed home for the storm and never saw a looter. At the time I worked at a 90,000 square foot warehouse facility in the city, and the roll up doors were all blown off the place. Nothing came in except for rain.

Most of those people you saw on TV ganged up waiting to be evacuated, and in the midst of all that horror, etc... etc... For all the drama the news made of it, any of those folks who could walk could have taken off walking in a westerly direction unarmed and empty handed and would have been out of the s*** in less than two or three miles. They would have been a hundred times more likely to find a helping hand than to run across someone who wanted to harm them.

 

[Eric F]

Take the sentimental stuff and over insure the rest.

+1 and a good sd peice or two

 

[SCKimberFan]

The Intracoastal Waterway isn't the same as NOLA. Storm surge would be his biggest concern.

Take the sentimental stuff and over insure the rest.

This would be the best option, although I would certainly try to get them as high as possible. Be certain you have the serial #'s for each of them. JIC

With "Fay" approaching

The latest models are taking her towards the Gulf, so this may be moot. I hope this is the case for you .cheese.

Keep your eyes open and be prepared.

 

[bigfatdave]

Take the sentimental stuff and over insure the rest.

Have to agree there. Take the stuff that can't be replaced by insurance, and whatever you need for SD. Secure the rest as well as you can and insure.
Being prepared does NOT mean dragging 200# of guns&ammo through a disaster zone yourself. At least get a handcart if you must take all of it.

 

[Guns and more]

The Intracoastal Waterway isn't the same as NOLA. Storm surge would be his biggest concern.

Flood reached the attic in N/O because people live below sea level, and the levee failed. I'm on the other side of Florida and I'll take a couple and lock the safe. I'm hoping this one fizzles out.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Last March, when we had such bad flooding on the White River here in Arkansas, there was a fellow living in the river bottoms with foresight. He rented two U-Haul trailers and loaded all his stuff up.

Unfortunately, this fella had what we Irish call a dhrinkin' problem. He celebrated his forsight by hoisting a few, and woke up with the water lapping at his bed, and watched the two trailers float past his bedroom window.

I don't think he ever found them.

 

[Zip7]

Flood reached the attic in N/O because people live below sea level, and the levee failed

It's reached attic height in Biloxi on a couple of occasions, and in fact has wiped houses clean away. Katrina did that, AND Camille. If you're within a mile of open water, you are vulnerable.

Most coastal cities are subject to flood, and NO is worse than most, but mostly that is because over the years the levees and channelization of the river has caused the marsh to die away, so that there is no longer a decent surge barrier. Originally, NO was a fair ways from the actual coast. Not anymore.

The oldest parts of NO were pretty much alright and didn't get severe flooding. The parts that did were the most vulnerable to the loss of the marsh barrier.

They can do whatever they want to the levees, but if there's another one, NO will flood again regardless of what they do. Levees protect against normal floods - not biblical ones. NO isn't the only place - all up and down the Mississippi, places flood, because it's a big bad river, and the levees by themselves won't hold it back if it gets fierce enough.

 

[Dookie]

if you can't take them all, take the bolt, firing pin, or something that will keep it from shooting if it does get stolen.

 

[Old Grump]

No hurricanes but we have floods and tornado's

Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota got pounded this spring from heavy snowfalls and a constant deluge of rain on saturated soil. People just a few miles from me who had never had flood waters in their yard have lost their houses because floods in the basement and living room caused severe damage to the foundations, (cave ins) and a couple had caught on fire and the fire trucks couldn't get there or in one case did get there but they had other jobs to do and when they left it reignited and finished the job. I purposely bought and built in a no flood zone but the road was underwater less than a mile from me so even I am not totally safe. Have way to many to take even though I have 2 trailers but the ones I didn't take would get put up high and I would hope for the best.

Niece lives 40 miles inland in Florida and they have had to replace roof twice and have had water in their yard once so being inland in a low altitude state like Florida isn't a lot of comfort if they ever get a real nasty. The tendency for storms the last few years has been for nasty but a lot of the expense is just because we insist upon building near water and in flood plains.

Blame the French for New Orleans for the location if you want to but it was us Americans who destroyed the wetlands and built the levee's ignoring the old saw that all dams are temporary.

 

[.cheese.]

honestly... nothing is all that sentimental in the collection. I just was worried about people taking advantage of an evac zone to break in and steal stuff.

I probably should just lock everything up as best I can and write down all the serial #s. I think everything is insured these days.

 

[Rxxdoc]

Can you take any of the action or critical parts from the items you have to leave behind?

It would be a shame if somebody used your weapons against an innocent person.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[FourNineFoxtrot]

Fortunately for me, my collection is small and very portable. And if I have to get out of dodge, it all comes along.

I actually am specifically avoiding allowing my collection to grow, just because it would become less portable. Until I have a real home, somewhere that isn't likely that I'll need to evac from, I keep things light.

Of course, if at some point I do have to evacuate from my hypothetical permanent home, with a collection too large to bring along, I would probably just make sure what I leave is locked tight, and well insured. And maybe, if there's time, I would bury a few pieces (depending on the type of hazard).

 

[C&R]

Keep an eye on Fay

It is looking like the max winds will be 90MPH. It will bring some much needed rain and probably bring down a few rotten trees. It looks like it will be going up the other coast, if so you will wont have to worry.

Keep an eye on it and prepaire.

Here is a link to the info without the media hype:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

 

[velocette]

My guns would go in the car before anything else. I do not wish to arm an army of looters. A safe I have, but why take a chance?

Roger (south Florida)

 

[blackcash88]

If that's the case, then I'd seal it away in the attic, where crooks won't generally go looking, and where flood water won't reach.

Yeah, that'll work right up until the roof gets ripped off or a tree falls on the house. I lived through Erin, Opal, Charley, Jeanne and Francis. NEVER again.

 

[Detachment Charlie]

From the latest projected tracks for Fay, it looks like it may come right up my drive.
I'm on the Gulf, just south of Sarasota. Evacuation is a cruel hoax in this part of Florida. If you chose to evacuate, leave NOW. If you don't, you'll be stuck in that long line of cars with empty gas tanks on I-75. Unless you have a hidey-hole location inland, you aren't going anywhere.
Stock up on water, canned food, good beer and whiskey, get fuel for your generator (you do have a generatyor, don't you?), and propane for your grill. And get plenty of batteries. These are NOT for flashlights; these are to keep the wife unit amused and distracted. I can't do EVERYTHING, can I?

 

[PTK]

When this was a concern for me, I'd leave most in my safe except for NFA items. ALL of my NFA stuff would come with me, even if I had to leave other essentials.

 

[Duke Junior]

I probably should just lock everything up as best I can and write down all the serial #s. I think everything is insured these days.

Hopefully.Most insurance companies have cut off times with storms approaching and will not make any adjustments in coverage.
Check with your carrier to be sure.Stay safe.