Navigating Evacuation Woes

"We still haven't gotten home. . . still learning how to do this evacuation thing," a community leader confided following the most recent evacuation order being lifted. The "evacuation season" takes physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual tolls the community, and it does not discriminate. These challenges impact people of all ages and across all socioeconomic and demographic divides. Ongoing and unpredictable evacuation orders wreak havoc on daily business operations, the practice of religious holidays, and necessary caregiving of children and elders. 

What's helping you make it through? Feel free to share in the comments below. 

And here are a few more helpful tips and practices:

Replenish "Go" Bags
Between evacuations, in "times of peace" and when you feel less pressure, prepare "go" bags for you and your housemates, including bottled water, a few changes of clothes, comfortable shoes, a reminder note to grab necessary medications when needed, a charged battery-pack phone charger, a flashlight, a radio, and extra toiletries. 

Gather with Neighbors upon Return
Plan for informal pot-luck gatherings with a few neighbors or community group members. Share about how your evacuation went. Encourage one another. Share with one another about what is going well. 

Lend a Helping Hand
There are lots of ways to help neighbors in preparation for future evacuations, including:

• Check in on neighbors who live alone or may appreciate some assistance to see if they need help making an evacuation plan, replenishing their "go" bag(s), or would benefit from gathering with neighbors to share about their experience. Make sure you each have one another's current contact information. 
• Join with Bucket Brigade or other local groups in preparing sandbags for neighbors. Learn more on their Facebook page. 
• If you are a business or congregation leader, create a flyer with helpful tips and information for your staff or members, including numbers to call for extra assistance
• If you are a teacher, create a flyer for students or students' parents with helpful tips and information for those who may need extra assistance
  

Tend to Your Health

• Continue practice healthy habits of exercise, eating, and sleeping
• Join a support group through Cottage Health, Hospice of Santa Barbara, or a community-based group 
• Talk with a therapist or spiritual director
• Journal
• Gather together with friends and neighbors for meals, gardening, discussing books, creating art, prayer or meditation, or other types of fellowship
• Attend sessions with a masseuse, Reiki practitioner, or chiropractor 

What else has been working for you, your family, or your neighbors? 

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Rev. Dr. Kate Wiebe serves as the Executive Director the Riviera Care Center Project - a project of the Institute for Collective Trauma and Growth. She is an organizational health consultant and pastoral psychotherapist. She lives with her family in Santa Barbara, CA. ​​