Evacuation
Depending on the incident you may decide to self-evacuate or could be told by the Emergency Services to evacuate your house.
Home Security:
If you leave your home, if appropriate, turn off your gas, water and electricity supplies and lock your doors and windows before you leave.
Be Prepared:
- Keep a half tank of fuel in your car.
- Find out about your local bus stops / routes.
- Decide in advance as part of your Emergency Plan places where you could evacuate to and where you would meet up with other family members.
- You may be asked to go to a specific Reception Centre or decide to go to a friends or relatives home away from the area. Make sure all members of your family / group know the location of where you are going in case you are separated.
- Check with any neighbours that may need assistance.
Take With You:
- Emergency kit.
- Emergency contact numbers.
- Medication and prescription glasses.
- Documentation.
- Pets with leads / carriers.
Reception Centres
Should an emergency arise that involves leaving your home, it is likely that the police will oversee your evacuation. You will be directed to a North Hertfordshire Reception Centre 
managed and run by NHDC staff volunteers . If you are asked to leave your home, you may not have time to prepare for the evacuation. In the first instance you may need to leave pets, valuables and medication behind.
At first the Reception Centre you are asked to go to may not be fully established and therefore you may need to be patient. You will be asked to provide some details such as your name and address and next of kin details so that they can be passed to a central database. The details are needed as your friends and relations may phone the ‘help-line’, normally given out on the television, to find out if you are safe. The help-line then matches your details with the enquiries received about you.
Depending on how long you will be required to stay at the centre, North Hertfordshire District Council will provide improved facilities, which could include, sleeping facilities, appropriate hot food etc. At the Reception Centre basic catering facilities will be available at first and, depending on how long you will need to stay, these may need to be upgraded. The facilities could include hot food, bedding, rooms for pets, welfare facilities, televisions, and most importantly the provision of information about your situation. North Hertfordshire District Council will provide these facilities for as long as required to ensure your safety.
At first it will be a very stressful environment, therefore, you will be asked to ensure you are courteous to our staff and other evacuees. Those who display anti-social behaviour may be asked to leave the centre by the Police.
We will endeavour to provide as much information as we can in appropriate forms. However, it is very likely that information at first will be very sketchy and unconfirmed. We will therefore only provide accurate information when we receive it. This we recognise may be a source of frustration but we feel is better than speculation.
