Before you leave your home, turn off appliances (except refrigerators and freezers) and faucets. Close all blinds and curtains. Check your home for security and lock the doors. Tie a white cloth on or near the front door to show that you have left.

• Use only one vehicle for your family. If you have room, please check to see if any of your neighbors need a ride.
• Follow the evacuation route for your PAS. Keep your car windows and air vents closed. Listen to an official radio station for reports about your route and other information.
• Drive safely; traffic may be heavy. Deputies along your route will help with the traffic.
• Place a note on your dashboard so you can be identified by emergency workers. Click here to download a sample sign or write a similar sign and place it on your dashboard.
• Do not worry about your property while you are away. Law officers will protect it. Roadblocks will keep people out of the area you have left.

Disabled people – Call your local civil defense/emergency preparedness office for help.

Students – If school is in session, children will be taken to a safe area at a reception center and cared for until their parent/guardian arrives. Their safety is first and foremost. Parents should not go to schools to pick up children.

Some children must spend time by themselves. Their parents must work or tend to other duties. If you are one of these parents, please speak with your children about the proper emergency response in the event of an incident at the nuclear station. Then, if you are away, your children will know what to do until you return.

Monitor and prepare

A type of precautionary action advises the public within the EPZ that a serious emergency at the nuclear power plant exists. Persons directed to “monitor and prepare” should keep watching their media information sources and get ready for the possibility of evacuation, sheltering in place or other protective actions. If an evacuation is underway, individuals who need not evacuate should stay off the roads to ease traffic for those who have been instructed to leave the area.

Expectations for those under a “monitor and prepare” instruction include:

• Reunite with family members
• Monitor information channels
• Prepare for the possibility of evacuation
• Keep off the evacuation path roadways, until instructed to evacuate

What if you are told to protect your breathing?

• Cover your nose and mouth with a handkerchief or other cloth.
• Close the windows and doors if you are in a building or a car. Turn vent or A/C to “recirc” or “max” if you are in a car.
• Turn off window and attic fans.
• Turn heating or cooling systems to “recirc” or “vent closed,” if available. If not, turn off heating or cooling systems.

What about my pets?

For reasons of health and safety, it is strongly recommended that pets not be brought to any reception center, however, it may be necessary under certain circumstances to do so. To facilitate the reasonable accommodation of domesticated animals, measures designed to assure a safe stay at the center are required. Domesticated pets are defined as dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, rodents or turtles or animals traditionally kept in the home for pleasure rather than for commercial purposes and can travel in commercial carriers, and be housed in temporary facilities. Reptiles (except turtles), livestock and animals classified as “vicious animals” will not be accepted.

While pets will not be allowed inside the actual reception center, limited facilities will be provided for the housing of your domesticated animals nearby. Animals should be transported in and remain housed in, portable containment devices while at the reception center pet facility. Care of these animals, such as providing food and water, will be the responsibility of the owner. Veterinary care needed by individual animals will have to be provided by the pet’s owner. Liability for any harm or damage caused by the animal while at the reception center facility will also be the responsibility of the owner. Also, bringing your pets to the reception center will delay your entry to and processing from the reception center. It is believed that pets would not be put in any danger should they be left behind, especially if pet owners have areas in which they can house their pets, such as an enclosed garage. Whatever radiation to which they might be exposed is not believed to be great enough to cause any physical harm to them. Also, the lower radiation levels that would be expected to be emitted from an accident at ANO might take many years to manifest into any health problems and since most pets do not have a life expectancy exceeding this time frame, the likelihood of them suffering from an illness brought upon them by exposure to radiation from a possible release from ANO is remote. The shock and turmoil of uprooting these animals from their normal surroundings might actually prove more harmful to them.

‘Service animals’ will be accepted at all Reception Centers; however, the owners will be responsible for care and control.

At the Reception Center, you can ask: how to register; where members of your family are, if they are not with you; how to get other housing if you need it. how to get medical or other special help; how to get checked for radiation; and when is it safe to go back home.