Shelter in Place or Evacuate? How to Decide When to Stay and When to Go
When a storm, fire, flood or long outage is on the way, every family faces the same question: do we stay, or do we go? The answer is easier when you decide the rules ahead of time. This guide walks through the clear signs it is time to leave, when staying home is the safer choice, what to do while you are still unsure, and which kit goes with each choice.
If you might have to leave in a hurry, start with our free one-page 72-hour go-bag checklist (printable), or read the full 72-hour go-bag checklist online.
The Short Answer: Most Emergencies Are Stay Events
For a family in a sturdy home, most emergencies are reasons to stay put: a winter storm, a power outage, or a night when the roads are the dangerous part. Leaving makes sense when your home or your area is no longer safe, or when officials tell you to go.
That one idea takes a lot of panic out of the decision. Staying home is not doing nothing. It is a plan with supplies behind it. Leaving is not overreacting. It is the right move when the danger is coming to you. Both work best when you have thought them through before the day comes.
Whatever you decide, always follow instructions from local emergency officials first. Ready.gov notes that officials may not be able to tell you right away what is happening, so keep listening to local news, radio and alerts for updates.
Shelter in Place vs. Evacuate: What the Words Mean
Officials use a few different terms, and they are not all the same thing. Ready.gov (run by FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency) separates them like this:
- Shelter in place: stay inside where you are because the air or conditions outside are dangerous. Bring everyone, pets included, indoors, lock doors, close windows, vents and fireplace dampers, turn off fans and forced-air heating or air conditioning, and go to an interior room with few windows.
- Stay at home: remain mostly indoors and leave only when you need to, for things like groceries, the pharmacy or gas.
- Mass care shelter: a public shelter that offers a place to stay, often with water, food and basic care. Ready.gov still advises bringing your own emergency kit, and notes that many public shelters do not allow pets other than service animals.
- Evacuate: leave your home and area for somewhere safer, ideally a place you picked ahead of time.
When to Evacuate: Clear Signs It Is Time to Go
Leave if any one of these is true:
- Officials tell you to evacuate, or a trusted local alert says to leave your area.
- Fire, flooding or another hazard is coming toward you and you still have a way out.
- Your home is damaged, you smell gas, or you do not feel the building is safe.
- Staying would trap you, such as rising water or the only road out about to close.
- Someone in your household needs care you cannot give them at home, like power for a medical device.
Timing matters. Ready.gov’s evacuation guidance says to leave early enough to avoid being trapped by severe weather, follow the recommended routes rather than shortcuts, and never drive into flooded areas. It also suggests keeping at least half a tank of gas in the car at all times, because gas stations may be closed or unable to pump during power outages. Canada’s Get Prepared power outage guidance adds that you should be ready to leave if your home becomes unsafe because of extreme cold, extreme heat or flooding.
If leaving is likely, have your routes and meeting places worked out now. Our household evacuation plan guide shows how, step by step.
When to Shelter in Place and Stay Home
Staying is usually the safer and more comfortable choice when:
- Your home is intact, and the problem is weather it can stand up to, a power outage, or bad travel conditions.
- Leaving would put you on crowded or icy roads with no safer place to reach.
- You have water, food, light and a way to get official updates.
- Officials have told you to shelter in place.
That third point is the one families can control. A stay-at-home plan only works if the supplies are already in the house. Our winter power outage checklist covers staying warm and safe when the lights go out.
If You Are Not Sure: Get Ready to Go While You Keep Listening
Many emergencies start slowly, and the right answer is not clear at first. You do not have to choose yet. Get ready to go, and keep listening:
- Shoes on and the go-bag by the door.
- Pets in carriers or on leashes.
- The car fueled and parked facing out.
- Phones charged and a battery-powered radio on.
- Follow official sources, not rumors on social media.
- If you have time, tell your out-of-area contact what you are doing.
If the news gets better, you unpack. If it gets worse, you are out the door in minutes instead of scrambling.
Decide Ahead: Write Your Family’s Stay-or-Go Rules
The hardest part of an emergency is often the argument in the kitchen. One person wants to leave now, another wants to wait. Settle it on a quiet evening instead, and write down three things:
- We go immediately when: for example, any evacuation order for our zone, any smell of gas, or water reaching the end of the driveway.
- We stay when: for example, the house is fine, the power is out, and the roads are icy.
- Who makes the call: one person decides if you disagree, plus a backup in case they are away.
Then walk your routes once, so the rules are not just words on paper. The Family Guard binder includes a ready-made Stay vs. Go page with these signs and fill-in lines for your own household rules, so you do not have to build it from scratch.
Which Kit Goes With Which Choice: Go-Bag vs. Stay-at-Home Kit
Each choice needs its own supplies. A go-bag is small enough to carry and covers about three days away from home: water, snacks, medicines, copies of documents, a flashlight, phone charger and some cash. Our 72-hour go-bag checklist lists everything for that side.
A stay-at-home kit is bigger and stays in one place. It covers living at home without power, stores or running water for days:
- Water: about one gallon per person per day. Three days is the floor, and two weeks is better if you have the space and rotate it. Count pets.
- Food: food your family already eats that needs no fridge and little or no cooking, plus a manual can opener.
- Light and news: flashlights, extra batteries and a battery-powered radio.
- Medicines and first aid: a week of daily medicines if you can, and a basic first aid kit.
- Sanitation: trash bags, wipes, hand sanitizer and a toilet plan if the water stops.
- For sheltering in place: Ready.gov suggests keeping plastic sheeting and duct tape in your kit, cut and labeled ahead of time, in case you are told to seal a room.
For simple quantities for a family of four, see how much food and water to stockpile. If you would rather not build every list yourself, the Family Guard binder has both kits laid out as checklists and inventory pages, ready to print and fill in.
Sample Pages From the Family Guard Binder
Here is a partial look at two pages from the binder. The full pages, with every section and fill-in line, come with the binder.
Safety Rules That Apply Either Way
- If you smell gas: leave, do not flip light switches, and call your gas company or 911 from outside.
- Generators and grills: never run a generator, camp stove, charcoal grill or barbecue inside your home, garage or an enclosed porch. Ready.gov says to use generators only outside and away from the house. Carbon monoxide gives no warning smell, so a working carbon monoxide alarm is part of staying home safely.
- Pets: plan now where your pets would go if you leave, since many public shelters accept only service animals.
- Before you leave: if there is time, lock up, unplug small electronics, leave a note saying where you went, and check on neighbors who may need a ride, as Ready.gov suggests.
Once the plan is written down, practice it twice a year. A rule you have never practiced is easy to forget. The Family Guard binder keeps your stay-or-go rules, kit lists, contacts and meeting places together in one place for a modest one-time cost of $39. For the bigger picture, see our family emergency plan guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Difference Between Shelter in Place and Evacuate?
To shelter in place means staying where you are, usually inside your home, because going outside is the bigger risk. Ready.gov describes it as bringing family and pets inside, locking doors, closing windows and vents, and moving to an interior room if needed. To evacuate means leaving the area for a safer place, such as a friend's home in another town, a motel or a public shelter.
Should I Evacuate if There Is No Official Order?
Sometimes, yes. Official instructions come first, but you do not always have to wait for one. Leave if your home is damaged, you smell gas, fire or rising water is coming toward you while you still have a way out, or staying would trap you. Ready.gov advises leaving early enough to avoid being trapped by severe weather.
What Should Be in a Stay-at-Home Emergency Kit?
Water (about one gallon per person per day), food your family already eats that needs no fridge, a manual can opener, flashlights and batteries, a battery-powered radio, a first aid kit, medicines, toilet and cleaning supplies, and pet food. Ready.gov also suggests plastic sheeting and duct tape if you may ever need to seal a room.
How Long Should a Stay-at-Home Emergency Kit Last?
Three days is the minimum to aim for. A week or two of water and food gives your family much more cushion if roads, stores or utilities are out longer. Build up a little at a time and rotate what you store.
What if My Family Disagrees About Whether to Leave?
Decide ahead of time who makes the final call, and name a backup in case that person is away. Write down your household's own rules for when you go and when you stay, so the decision is already half-made when you are stressed.
Official Guidance Used on This Page
- Shelter, Ready.gov (FEMA)
- Evacuation, Ready.gov (FEMA)
- Power Outages: How to Prepare, Government of Canada (Get Prepared)
This page is general household guidance. Always follow instructions from local emergency officials first.