Record two distinct ways out before you need to leave, then check both against current official conditions when an event is active. A useful note names the starting point, destination, major turns, household limits, communication plan, and the conditions that would make a route unusable. Keep a primary and alternate option on paper, but follow evacuation orders, route signs, barricades, and current state or local emergency-management directions first. A route note cannot promise a travel time or a safe arrival.
Start with two genuinely different options
Write down the address or place where the household will begin, then choose a primary route and an alternate route. Give each one a clear label. The alternate should differ in a meaningful way where practical. If both options cross the same bridge, pass through the same low crossing, or enter the same likely bottleneck, they may fail under the same conditions even though the road names differ.
The choice between staying and leaving comes first. Use your household decision plan, such as When to shelter and when to leave, for that question. This note is for recording possible departure options after an evacuation decision or official order applies. It does not replace the instructions issued for the current hazard.
For each route, mark the roads in order, important turns, bridges, tunnels, steep sections, and places where a wrong turn would take the vehicle away from the intended path. Include an address or recognizable location for the starting point, rather than relying on a pin that may be unavailable. If a route begins from work, school, a caregiver's home, or another regular location, make a separate card for that starting point.
Choose destinations that can receive the household
An exit is only useful when the destination is workable for the people and animals traveling there. Record the address, a primary contact, and a backup contact for each destination. Confirm that the destination can receive the household during the kind of disruption you are planning for. Ask about children, older adults, mobility equipment, service animals, pets, medication storage, and any loading or unloading needs that change the plan.
Destinations can change. A relative may be away, a shelter may reach capacity, or an official order may make the original meeting place unavailable. A meeting place that can change can help you assign a destination and a fallback without treating either one as permanent. Keep the address and contact details on paper, and tell an out-of-town contact which destination the household is using when communication is available.
Do not publish a destination as safe simply because it is outside the immediate area. Conditions vary by hazard and location. A destination may still be affected by smoke, flooding, a utility outage, a closure, or an order to leave. Check its status and capacity through the responsible local authority or the destination itself before departure when that information is available.
Put route details beside the action they affect
A route card should be short enough to read in a stopped vehicle and detailed enough for another household member to use. Record the following fields for both options:
- Route label: primary or alternate, plus the date last reviewed.
- Starting point: address, landmark, or approved pickup location.
- Destination: address, contact name, phone number, and fallback location.
- Road sequence: road names, turns, bridges, tunnels, and known decision points.
- Map reference: page, grid, or marked area on the paper map.
- Vehicle needs: fuel or charging points, vehicle clearance limits, and loading space.
- Household needs: stroller, wheelchair, walker, oxygen equipment, medication, or extra loading time.
- Children and pets: seats, carriers, leashes, food, water, medication, and who checks each item.
- Communication: out-of-town contact, meeting point, and how the household will report a change.
- Recheck triggers: official warning, construction, seasonal weather, a move, a changed household need, or an inaccessible crossing.
Keep only details that help the household make or carry out the decision. A long list of minor landmarks can slow a reader down. Mark the few points where the route can split, cross water, lose service, or require a different vehicle choice.
Use a paper map as a backup
Keep a printed map with the card at home and in the vehicle, protected from water and easy to read in low light. Mark both routes in different colors, write the starting point and destinations, and add the map date or edition. If someone else may drive, write the road sequence in words instead of relying on markings alone.
Paper maps are useful when a phone battery, signal, device, or account is unavailable. They are not live closure systems. Using a paper map when your phone is unavailable explains the limits of working from printed information. The U.S. Geological Survey map symbol guide and its topographic map symbols explain how map scale and symbols represent roads, water, terrain, structures, and boundaries. Those details help you read a map, but they do not confirm current traffic, fire, flood, damage, or closure conditions.
If you walk, cycle, use public transportation, or use a wheelchair, check the map and route for that mode. A vehicle route may contain a shoulder, crossing, grade, or surface that does not work for a person on foot or for a mobility aid. Record accessible entrances, elevators, boarding points, rest locations, and a way to carry necessary equipment only when those details have been confirmed for the actual place. A household support map can help organize accessible transport and backup help.
Verify current conditions before leaving
When an incident is active, recheck both routes against current official information. FEMA's Ready.gov advises households to learn evacuation routes and make a family communication plan. Its Make a Plan, Evacuation, and Family Emergency Communication Plan materials can help you organize the card and the contact plan.
Follow the instructions from the responsible state and local emergency-management agencies, transportation officials, and law enforcement. Use the route they direct when an evacuation order or route change applies. Check road closures, bridge status, weather, fire or flood warnings, and official detours shortly before departure and again if conditions change. A route that was open during planning may be closed during the event.
Do not drive around a barricade or use a road marked closed. Never drive through floodwater. Water can hide damage, washouts, debris, or a missing section of road, and a familiar crossing may no longer be passable. Turn around and follow the current official direction rather than trying to preserve the original route choice.
Write the date and time of each review on the card, but treat the note as a planning record, not a current clearance. A new warning, closure, construction project, seasonal condition, move, or household change is a reason to update it. The card should prompt a fresh check, not stand in for one.
Check the route against the household
A route that works for one car and two adults may not work for a household with a wheelchair, car seats, a person who needs rest, or several animals. Walk through each route with the actual vehicle and the people who may use it. Identify where loading takes extra time, where a person can rest, and where equipment can be secured without blocking an exit.
For a vehicle, record fuel or charging needs and the points at which the vehicle would need to stop. Do not assume a listed station will be open. Confirm current availability when the route is needed, and keep enough flexibility for a closure or a detour. A low-clearance car, trailer, or van may have limits that change which crossings or roads work.
For mobility needs, ask what must be reachable without stairs, what surface is usable, and how a mobility aid will travel. A backup route should not be labeled usable until its crossings, access points, and transport arrangements fit the person who needs them. If public or accessible transport is part of the plan, confirm schedules, boarding locations, service animals, and capacity through the responsible provider or local authority.
For children, note car seats, comfort items, medication instructions supplied by a clinician, and the adult responsible for each child during loading. For pets, record carriers, leashes, food, water, medication, waste supplies, and a person assigned to each animal. Service animals may have different needs from pets, so write those needs separately. A clear assignment prevents one adult from assuming another adult packed an essential item.
Plan communication when devices fail
Write an out-of-town contact on every card. The household can report its starting point, chosen destination, and any change when a call or message works. Keep private details limited to what the contact needs, and do not post a household address or route publicly.
Choose a meeting point for a split household, but give it a backup. The point may become inaccessible or may sit inside an affected area. Each person should know the route labels, destination addresses, contact number, and the instruction to follow current official directions if the plan changes.
Carry the card in more than one place, such as a home document folder and a vehicle kit. Give a copy to a trusted household member who may need to leave from a different starting point. A paper copy helps when a phone is lost, uncharged, damaged, or being used for an emergency call. It does not provide current conditions by itself.
Keep the note readable and limited
Use large enough writing for the driver to read while stopped. Put the primary and alternate cards on separate sides or pages, and keep the official update channels at the top. If a detail is uncertain, do not turn it into a confident instruction. Write the action that remains supported, such as checking the current local closure notice or confirming access with the destination.
The card does not need an expensive binder, a special app, or a large map collection. A printed map, a pencil, a plastic sleeve, and a few clear fields can be enough to begin. Update it when the household moves, the vehicle changes, a child or pet joins the household, a mobility need changes, or an official road project affects a crossing.
Frequently asked questions
These questions address route independence, map limits, animal arrangements, and the timing of a review.
Should the two routes use different roads from the beginning?
They do not have to start in different directions, but they should separate before a shared bottleneck when practical. If both routes depend on the same bridge, low crossing, or narrow corridor, record that shared limit and identify what official direction will replace the plan if it closes.
Can a paper map tell me whether a road is open?
No. A paper map shows geography and map symbols, while road status can change with traffic, damage, fire, flood, construction, or an official closure. Check current state or local updates before departure and obey barricades and route signs.
What should a household do when a destination cannot accept pets?
Record a destination that has confirmed its animal policy, and keep a separate fallback contact or location. Confirm carriers, service-animal access, medication, food, and water before leaving because policies and capacity can change.
How often should the route card be reviewed?
Review it after a move, vehicle change, new household need, major road project, seasonal hazard, or official warning. During an active event, check current official conditions immediately before departure and whenever the route or order changes.
Make the next check
Write one primary and one alternate route for the household's actual starting point, then mark destinations, constraints, map references, communication details, and recheck triggers. Read the card with the people who may use it, including anyone who loads mobility equipment, children, or pets. Before departure, compare both options with current official orders, closures, flood warnings, and route directions. The result should be a readable route card that supports a decision without promising a travel time or safety.