Well I never thought it would happen to me but it did.
When I purchased that bag and supplied it with necessities I never thought the day would come that I had just enough time to grab a bag and go because I had no time to get anything else.

That day came!

Last weekend I get someone pounding on my door at 1:30AM while I am cold out. It takes me a few minutes to get to the door and when I answer it I see my neighbor in panic mode telling me my truck is going underwater and get it now or lose it. So yes I wade in 2 ft of water to my truck and luckily having a 4wd truck I just drove right out. Not so for many of my neighbors with cars. SO now I go throw my truck a few hundred yards away to dry land but who knows what is going to be dry soon. So I run back upstairs and Im in panic mode. My thoughts are I have to get out now or be trapped in here and this water is rising fast. SO I go upstairs and grab my bug out bag and open it to put some more useful and fittable clothing in it. I already have 5 days of dried foods in the bag but I also stick in 6 cans of tuna some peanut butter and a few cans of beans. I also grab my boots and throw some extra socks and undies in them and I head back out to my truck loaded with my B O B and my boots and a jacket in hand. The water has come up even more now and it is up to my knees for the wade to my truck. Now I am really panicing. I decide I need more stuff and wade back in again. I hit a pile of ants on the way back and they tore my legs up in that nasty nasty water. While all of this is going on it is pouring down in buckets. Just heavy torrential rain. Very unnerving. SO I go back up and all of this has taken at least 45 minutes. Now I just grab my backpack load it with as much fruit and food as I can and set it by the door. Why I didnt leave I dont know but I decided that I was going to wait until it was chest high to leave. About 4 am I waded back out to the truck loaded up my backpack and whatever else I had in my hands at at that point it was up to my juevos.

Again I go back to my place and wait and watch the water. Thankfully it stopped rising about there and I just sat there and watched it rain all night and day and night and day etc etc

SO I am grading my BOB

What I took out. MY Takedown 22 and ammo where out. The clothing I had in there was old non fitting stuff and it came out. But that was it everything else was good to go. But I probably will keep it in there in case the next situation is far worse. And yes it can get far worse.

What I put in was a few rounds of 45 w mags and better clothing and whatever appropriate food I had available at the time

SO my bug out bag did well just need better clothing just in case I have to get out faster next time.

This is why a BOB is a good thing and you should have one


Pic is view from my balcony at 7AM that morning.

My trusty and beloved HK was not leaving my side. I think a pistol is all I need for a bug out situation of this magnitude. A much worse catastrophe like a nuclear strike, major tsunami, grid blackout or supervolcanic eruption I would definitely have kept my TD22 with the 300 rounds I had in there.

What a night it was a nightmare and I am glad its over. Sorry to spill the beans like this but it is therapeutic to be able to talk about it.

I hope everyone is safe and sound and dry again. The misery out there is something you just cant fathom. It is bad for a lot of people.

Good description of how quickly this happened and being in a deep sleep going into cold water. Many people think this will happen while they are wide awake watching TV or at the office and have time to think their plan out. Also couple of thoughts, how much gas did you have and how much water?

glad you are safe, its a night mare.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Glad you are safe.

Glad u are ok. Interestingly enough I was re-doing my BOB to accommodate an infant. We are so dependant on ability to run across the street for necessities.

My truck was full to the brim and since I am a fishing guide and supply water for my clients I had 4 cases of 16 oz bottles in my truck. That goes fast in the summer so in the summer I am always loaded with water. I bought these a week before Harvey was even a thought so I didnt have to stock up on water. I always keep a few 2.5 gallon bottles for drinking at the house also.

Fast Fast Fast!!!!!! Thankfully it stopped where it did or I would be out of my place now. I am lucky. I just took my first hot shower this morning since they turned the heater back on last night.That was nice. Looks like food and gas are coming back in slowly but surely.

Everybody good luck

Crazy deal. I have a bug out bag, but I don't even keep it packed. With a family of 4, I don't think you can pack it in advance for 4 people and feel prepared for any situation that might come up. But I do have a truck that can go 700 miles on a tank, so I should be able to get further without fuel than just about anyone else.

Thank you for sharing and really glad your safe.

Glad you are O.K. Thanks for sharing your story.

When you read a first hand experience with a BOB, all those "what if" preparation threads seem a little less unimaginable.

Probably a lot of people thinking less about "zombie apocalypse" prep and more about "natural disaster" prep. Drinking water, food and hygiene products may be taking the place of those 7 inch blade combat knives (x 3) and AR-15s with 10 loaded mags, 2 handguns with 300 rounds of hollow point etc. etc....Just sayin'

Zombie Apocalypse is a joking way of describing preparedness for any potentially life altering event. Whether it's a natural disaster or man made, the preps are the same.

I am a prepper in the sense that I maintain some spare food, water and other important supplies for emergencies. My truck and my wife's SUV both have packs with emergency supplies in them, including water. We always fill our cars at 1/2 tank instead of waiting until empty. When Harvey came blowing in, I didn't worry about running out to buy gas or supplies. Might seem strange to some people, but it is basic common sense to me.

Whether it be a tornado, earthquake, blizzards or flood - it is just simple common sense to be ready to be reasonably self sufficient for as long possible. I have seen things happen too many times to be oblivious to the obvious pitfalls.

My list of supplies stored and packed into truck bins isn't fancy. It is simply what I need for camping or boating in remote areas. In my case, yes it includes self defense weapons - just like a camping trip.

If I have to leave on foot, my backpack is just basic stuff to make to a shelter - I'm not Johnny Rambo and I know it!

Bigfoot, good write up! We all need to have a dose of reality now and then.

Marc

Good job being prepared, hope you get back settled soon

Power never turned off and Im in and back to normal as nothing happened. Except not much guiding for a few months. So I basically lost my job. There will be some fishing going on but it wont be enough to keep things rolling. Im already on day 4 of the new job so I am at least back to work. The problem is I took a job repairing this damage so I dont see a vacation or a day off to go hunt for another 2 years at least.

I was in the same situation. Woke up at 3am Sunday, went downstairs to check water level and stepped into 3 inches of water in my living room. Ran around grabbing mres, canned goods and water from the pantry to take upstairs. On Monday Dickinson went to mandentory evacuation and friends encouraged me to evacuate. Put together 2 duffle bags of clothes and tied them to kayak then grabbed my GHB and considered the contents. Tossed out the spare box of aammo due to weight and added some food and meds in case I needed to bug out overnight. Water never came back into house but it was a great lesson in deciding what was really important in an emergency. Still had my P229 and a few extra mags just in case but was more worried about medical, food and water in case I needed to paddle to high ground. Ended up stripping Sheetrock instead of bugging out lol.

So in hindsight, what should the bag contain?

Great write up.

It's coincidental that a few weeks ago I was researching how to build a proper BOB and was shopping for components/supplies. Harvey hit before I was able to put a bag together and I headed south with boat in tow to do what I could to help out. After 3 days of rescues in Houston and sleeping on various couches I found myself in Port Author low on food and fuel ration with none to be be had anywhere. Last Thursday afternoon my partner and I were told that they were planning on a big water release that was going raise the water levels in the Port Author and surrounding areas and if we didn't leave immediately, we would be trapped there for at least 72 hours. We were told that we needed to have enough supplies to self/sustain for at least three days. It was at this moment I wished I had a BOB.

We had packed enough food/fuel to last our planned duration but really wasn't prepared for getting stuck additional days. Also, none of our supplies were readily portable if we had to leave the truck. I wasn't prepared to lose the truck and or boat becoming stranded ourselves. That was the reality for many volunteers. A lot of them flooded their trucks and damaged their boats becoming evacuees themselves. Luckily, all went well for us and we didn't have any real problems. After this experience I will be putting together a BOB and keeping it in the truck at all times.. especially if going into a known disaster area.

.

Mine contained a lot and was heavy but I could ditch anything anytime.

I havent had a chance to repack it yet because I have been working every single day for a construction company of course.

Before I did a quick repack of clothing I took out my 22 TD with 300 rounds and 3 magazines.
clothes that were just a size too small for me. What I left in was a small shovel, Kbar knife, folding wood saw, stainless canteen with a pan bottom to cook in. Towel, lots of Toilet paper, toothpaste tooth brush, soap, spare glasses and old contacts, 5 or 6 doo rags, all in one eating utensil, water bladder system, katadyn water filter, water purification tablets and drops, tons of lighters and waterproof matches, various bandaids, a small bottle of h2o2 and calamine lotion, antacids and flu medicine. 10 packets of dried meals, iodine tablets, Most of this stuff that needs to be is in 2 waterproof bags that can/are filled with air if needed to float. Sleeping pad and bag also. And of course my Hk45c with a few loaded mags. I am just going by memory so I may have left out a few small items.

Saw this and thought it might be good to have in a bug out bag to recharge electronics. 5v/1A might be a little low for the newest phones. But it would charge a battery pack and the battery pack would charge a phone. I keep a battery pack in my hunting bag that will recharge a phone around 4 times before going dead.

I am not associated in any way with the product or company.
https://store.colddeadhands.us/products/bug-out-bag-solar-panel-phone-charger

Couple things:
1. glad you are safe and everything worked out for the better for you, lots of people didn't get so lucky.

2. having a bug out bag and having a hurricane bag may be one in the same but in reality could be two very different things for you. Hurricane bag should focus more on water purification, food, spare clothes due to wet, and medicines. A few extra pounds for other gear isn't going to hurt, but in all honesty if you weren't a little prepared for this then you weren't paying attention. Weather channel had been talking about 50+ inches of rain for a while before the storm actually hit.

3. This is more directed at misfire above than OP, but a BOB is supposed to be a quick use get you to the next stop kind of bag, not a long term survival bag for days on end. It should contain about 72 hrs worth of food, which if needed could be stretched longer by rationing, but carrying too much food just becomes a pain in the back. Get to your next location and work on food procurement there. Proper evacuation planning should be done ahead of time to have food at your bug out location. don't get caught in the idea that a bug out bag is all that is needed to survive. You need skills, location, and prep in order to survive.

4. Look at Anker products on amazon. They make quality solar chargers and battery packs pretty inexpensive, and they work well. I have the 21W panel (slightly smaller than the one linked above, but way more capacity) and a 21K battery, weight is around 1.5 pounds and they cost me around 100 bucks total. The solar panel charges the battery and the battery will charge anything with a usb connection. I picked up a combo AA/AAA/C/18235 battery charger that works off USB to charge almost any rechargeable non-lithium battery . I can also charge two things simultaneously with each the solar and with the battery pack. Super easy, just plug in and use. For those that know, 21K battery will charge several devices many times over, and the solar panel will fully charge the 21K pack in a several hours of decent sunlight. These could be very convenient for a bug out bag as well.