Imagine severe weather is about to strike your neighborhood and you have to evacuate in the next 30 minutes. What would you do to prepare to leave? What would you take with you and why?

If there were to be a severe weather event that was about to strike my neighborhood, and I only had 30 minutes to pack and leave, I would have to grab things that I knew were necessities. Deciding what I bring with me is not inconsequential. I should only bring things that matter to avoid slowing me down. Should a severe weather event occur, I would grab food and supplies so we could survive away from home, I would also grab my cat so she’s not left alone, and lastly I would make sure to take some kind of money and I would grab some kind of money and family heirlooms because the money would be useful in case we run out of supplies and need to buy something and the heirlooms because they are priceless to my family.

The first and most important things I would take with me are food, water, and first aid supplies. It’s pragmatic to take capacious amounts of food and water if you are evacuating because you don’t know if after you leave you’ll be able to find anything to eat or drink later on. Especially since we live in such a heavily populated city, there are bound to be tons of people who didn’t stock up on supplies beforehand. There is a large chance that once people start to evacuate, it'll be nearly impossible to find food once you’re already on the road. It is also important to bring first aid supplies. If you’re lucky, you won't have to use it, but if someone gets hurt it’s important that you have some kind of first aid supplies.

The second thing I would bring is my cat Mimi. I love my cat more than anything. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I left her behind in the house alone when we evacuate. I would have to pack her in her carrier and stuff her in the car along with everything else we are taking with us. She doesn’t really like being in her carrier or the car, but we wouldn’t have any other way to bring her with us, so she’d have to deal with it. Loud weather noises like thunder really freak her out, so she’ll be better off evacuating with us too. We’ve had my cat since she was a kitten and now she’s almost 8 years old. At this point she is basically a part of our family so even if I wasn’t the one to grab her and take her with us, someone else would, so she’d just end up coming with us anyway.

The last things I would take with me is money and family heirlooms. They would be last, not because they aren’t important, but because there are things that take a higher priority. I would take money with me because as sad as it is, we can not survive without money. Eventually we’ll run out of the supplies we brought, and we’d have to find more. With the high demand of food and water, the prices of those things would rise significantly. We’ll need to bring enough money with us to be able to buy food and water when we need to. I will also bring family heirlooms with me because there will be no way of knowing what condition my house will be in when we get back. There’s a chance everything could be ruined. By bringing the heirlooms with us, it basically guarantees the survival of the heirlooms. The heirlooms are important because some of them belonged to my great grandparents and are almost a hundred years old. Those heirlooms are priceless to my family. If the heirlooms were to be lost or destroyed, we would lose the last of the belongings that we have that  belonged to those who have passed away.

If there was a severe weather event that forced me and my family to evacuate I would grab food, water, medical supplies, my cat, family heirlooms, and money. I would bring food so I wouldn’t be forced to try and find food and water while on the road. I would bring my cat Mimi because if she were to be left alone for a prolonged amount of time she would surely die. I would make sure to bring money just in case I need to buy something while evacuating, I'll need some way to pay for it. And I’ll grab some family heirlooms, because though not a necessity, those things mean a lot to my family and they’ll be devastated if they were to be lost or damaged.