Nash: When it all goes up in smoke — Having a ‘go bag’ can bring peace of mind in disaster

FOR A LONG TIME, my emergency preparedness consisted of having three gallon bottles of water stashed in the back of a cupboard and a bunch of smashed energy bars. Then I moved, meaning that the water was dumped on the plants and the bars were tossed.

I’ve been lucky, having never actually needed to rely on a go bag. But I am one degree of separation from many who have. My partner learned of the evacuation order that covered his house in the Santa Cruz mountains while he was out of town, and the August 2020 CZU Lighting Complex fires raged out of control. We were able to get his medications and papers only by begging the sheriff to let us through the smoke and falling ash. A year later, when a mudslide hit his propane tank and gallons of propane spewed through the air, we had time only to grab the keys and go.