Après moi, le déluge.

In Genesis Chapter 9, G-d commands Noach to build a watertight vessel and to stock it with all species of life known to man. Following this interchange, the earth was subjected to forty days and forty nights of rain, sufficient to wash all living things -- except for those ensconced in the ark -- from the earth.

After a winter with three major snowstorms, spring arrived in New Jersey with three days of constant heavy downpours, upturned trees, disconnected electrical mains, and flooding in the usual "low lying areas". Driving home after Saturday's Libertarian Party convention, we encountered road closures, unlit traffic signals, transmission-saturating puddles, and tire-eating potholes in addition to strong cross winds and the usual slippery roads. We're not near the coast, but we are just south of the Watchung mountains, and for parts of the weekend, one of the major routes out from here was closed due to flooding. Two towns away from us, hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes due to local flooding. Many state residents spent some time without power, telephone, Internet service, or some combination. While we kept electricity, copperline phone, and cellular communications, our Internet connection was down for significant parts of Sunday.

Many of us live in areas where we might need to quickly leave our homes or our jobs for a day or two as spring floods rise and fall. After spring, there's hurricane season that lasts through the summer. As each season poses its own challenges for short-term evacuation, now is probably a good time to check out, rotate, and/or reprovision your emergency evacuation kit.

• For starters, have a change of casual clothes (including underwear, socks, and shoes) appropriate to the season's weather. You don't want to freeze wearing shorts out in the winter snow -- but neither do you want to slowly roast in heavy wools mid-summer. One advantage in reloading the clothes in your emergency kit each season is that you can make sure they fit and are in reasonable repair.
• You will also want to rotate out your medications. Insulin and amylins, like many pills and dressings, have expiration dates after which their effectiveness is unreliable. (Some outdated medications can even become poisonous.) How much of a supply to stow depends on your area and how long you are likely to be away from home in severe weather. Remember to rotate out peripherals like infusion sets, test strips, lancets, dressings, needles, and syringes as well. (You don't want an old, crumbly wrapper to desterilize any vital medical supplies.) A set or two of unexpired travel-sized sundries always comes in handy, as do a hairbrush and a toothbrush.
• As we change the batteries in our smoke detectors, we should consider changing batteries in the emergency glucometers (and any other battery-operated medical equipment) we keep in our evac bags. Some mail-order medical supply firms offer the ubiquitous 2032 lithium batteries at discount. If your glucometer, digital scale, or other devices use this size battery, consider stocking up.
• Also check (and update if necessary) your emergency contacts list and its associated list of medications and schedules, allergies, and treatments. Do this for the laminated sheet in your evac bag, your Medical Alert ID file, your seatbelt ID strap, and the little cards you keep in your wallet and your meter case.
• Many of us keep other emergency kits as well: pet evacuation, first aid, power-outage, and gas-outage kits are common. Again, it's a good idea to check their contents, change batteries, and rotate out anything that is close-dated, has expired, or is no longer needed.
• Finally, make sure your emergency and evacuation kits are easily identified and readily accessible, (also pet-proof and/or child-proof if appropriate) and that at least one other member of your household knows where they are.

While we all hope never to need to use our emergency and evacuation kits, they can bring some certainty to an already-stressful situation.

On the plus side, they're available for an unexpected weekend getaway - as long as you don't get flooded out.