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If Sherri Bateman were one of the thousands to evacuate their homes during the Toronto propane explosions last week, she'd have been ready.
Somewhere hidden in her Nepean, Ont., home, a well-stocked duffel bag lies in wait to help her family survive a catastrophe.
She has stitched cash into the seams and stuffed it with a tent, military food rations, water purification tablets, homemade feminine hygiene products and a breast pump.
The bag also contains glow sticks, wool socks, a First Aid kit, a chess board, photocopies of important documents, a 12-pack of energy bars and a hand-cranked radio, among other things.
The 35-year-old mother of three fashioned the kit after watching televised scenes of hurricane Katrina survivors brawling for food on the trampled Astrodome green in 2005. "People fighting and looting over $10 or a bottle of water - that just freaked me out, that my family could go through something like that," she said.
Her fervent Girl Guide-style preparedness is rare.
Last week's propane explosion left thousands of Torontonians fleeing their homes at 4 a.m. after donning little more than bathrobes and slippers. It was the latest event in the past few months to give families pause about what they would do should they have to cut and run. This spring, stubborn forest fires in Nova Scotia, Alberta and Manitoba displaced thousands. In early May, swelling floodwaters forced hundreds of New Brunswickers out of their homes.
The federal government's website getprepared.ca encourages Canadians to pack an emergency kit and tuck it somewhere near the doorway. Families are asked to include water, non-perishable food, a can opener, a flashlight and batteries, an extra set of keys, medication, First Aid kit, cash and an emergency plan.
But most Canadians admit they are nowhere near ready to leave their homes should disaster strike, says Adrian Gordon, president and CEO of the Canadian Centre for Emergency Preparedness, citing results from a survey due out in October.
It's natural for them to believe they'll never have to, he says. "It's part of human nature, thinking, 'Well I don't think it'll happen to me and if it does, the government's going to bail me out.' "
An evacuation order would send 41-year-old Meghan Bradley scrambling, she confesses with a laugh.
"The most I do is probably keep an extra bottle of water," said the Oakville, Ont., mother of three. "I think I live in a bit of a bubble. I hop in my car and go about my day."
She remembers herself as a kid back in 1979, having to leave her cat behind for 10 days during an evacuation when a train derailed at Mavis Road in Mississauga. Even still, Ms. Bradley says her family has never discussed the possibility of evacuating last minute and packing an emergency kit is just not on her to-do list.
"Worse comes to worse, we'll get by. I just don't feel I need to pack a whole special box for it."
Many Canadians, like Susan Clemens of Ottawa, are confident enough with storing their documents in a fireproof safe.
"I keep money in there - I usually have three or four hundred dollars," says the 44-year-old. "I try to keep twenties and fives, I have our passports and birth certificates, marriage certificates."
Her seven-year-old daughter has severe food allergies, so Ms. Clemens keeps a Tupperware bin handy in which she keeps tetra packs of soy milk and food her daughter can eat. Her daughter's EpiPen is always close at hand.
Should she have to leave home on the double, Ms. Clemens says, she'd tote that bin and her trusty fire box.
But sometimes stuffing documents into a fireproof safe isn't enough, says Alain Normand, emergency measures supervisor for the City of Brampton.
"If you do have some very precious items you want to preserve, and if you have a high risk of losing your home, you should rent out a safe at the bank ... [as] fire boxes do have their limits."
Being packed and ready gives her family a sense of security, says Ms. Bateman, and while she's glad to have a plan for her family, sometimes her six-year-old son expresses fear about what he perceives to be imminent danger.
"When we talked to him about it he asked a lot of questions and we could tell that it was starting to bother him," Ms. Bateman says.
"He would ask questions like 'Well, has this ever happened here before? Have we ever got a tornado?' " but would then promptly return to his Xbox, she says.
Mr. Normand says parents shouldn't hide the chance of an evacuation from children. Having them pack their own little emergency kit might set their minds at ease, he says.
But there's a fine line between teaching caution and inviting paranoia, says parentingauthor Sara Dimerman from her home in Thornhill, Ont.
"In terms of actually packing a bag and leaving it in the hallway closet, which might be a little bit foreboding and anxiety-producing, mentally prepare them instead," she says, suggesting families draw up a list of items to have handy should an evacuation ever be required.
Gayle Freeman wishes she'd created such a list.
The single mother and her five-year-old daughter Lily had only 10 minutes to leave their Oshawa apartment when water damage revealed mould and asbestos.
They've lived in a motel for over a month, she says, and having grabbed only a change of clothes and their toothbrushes, Ms. Freeman wishes she'd been more prepared.
"I wish I had insurance, more clothing, food, more things to entertain my daughter," she said. "It's not the same thing as home, that's for sure."
