Emergency Moves: Disasters, Evictions, and More

All My Sons Moving & Storage helps with emergency and last-minute moves across the country.

Need to make a relocation in the middle of a crisis? From evacuating a neighborhood because of an impending hurricane to rushing to leave an abusive relationship, emergency moves might come in all shapes and sizes but they hold a few things in common. You need to pack essentials quickly, vacate the old home as soon as possible, and secure a safe location on the double. 

After over 30 years in the moving industry, All My Sons Moving & Storage has seen every type of move imaginable. We know that even in an emergency or last-minute move, a little organization goes a long way toward helping businesses and families keep their sanity. Here are some different types of emergency moves, and our top four tips for helping get through each of them.

A job offer lands in your inbox for your dream role three states away, but they want you to start in 48 hours. A surprise HR meeting leaves you laid off, and unable to afford rent come the 1^st. While job changes, good and bad, might leave a little more wiggle room than other emergency moves, that doesn’t mean they’re any less nerve-wracking.

Here are some tips for quickly putting together a last-minute move because of a job change.

• Create a Quick Moving Checklist: Take five to ten minutes to write a quick checklist of everything you need to accomplish before your move including providing notice of your move to interested parties, scheduling utilities for connection and disconnection, and calling professional movers for quotes. Here’s a sample checklist for a last-minute move. 

• Buy Packing Supplies in Bulk: When you’re short on time, you might not have the luxury of searching your community for free boxes or getting an exact count of boxes for your full moving inventory. We recommend you deliberately buy more packing supplies than you need so you don’t run the risk of running out without an opportunity to grab more. Some moving retailers will allow you to return unused boxes at the end of your move. Save your receipts.

• Declutter and Downsize While You Pack: As you pack up your belongings, sort them. Separate items in good condition for a donation run you will make or arrange before your move and immediately discard items that are not in good condition and that you no longer wish to keep. The easiest and most eco-friendly way to dispose of a large amount of bulk waste would be to call a junk removal company. Junk.com offers pickup as soon as same day. 

• Call For Professional Help: While friends and family can try to be there for you in the event of an emergency move, it really pays to have professional help. Moving pros can help with packing, loading, transport, and reassembly of furniture, leaving you free to breathe a little easier. If you are down to the wire, call moving companies that offer same-day moving services. 

You’ve heard the call for evacuation, and now you’re ready to leap into action. Hopefully you had a disaster preparedness plan ready. If not, these are four tips we have in the event you need to relocate because of a natural disaster.

• Prioritize Speed and Safety: An incoming wildfire, hurricane, or other disaster might not come with much warning. Make sure you and your household members are safe above all else. No item is worth your life or the lives of your children.

• Pack Only Essential Items: Depending on how much time you have before the disaster hits, you may have enough time to grab living essentials and precious keepsakes or you might need to shove your wallet in a bag and take off. You will have to assess the situation quickly and assume you have even less time than you think you do.

• Use Suitcases and Backpacks: In the event of an incoming natural disaster, don’t bother with boxes unless they are already packed. Use household items like backpacks, suitcases, laundry baskets, and plastic bins to quickly grab the items you need, load the truck or car, and take off. 

• Secure a Safe Location to Wait Out the Disaster: Find a place safe from the disaster area. You can look for temporary housing with friends, family, hotels, or short-term rentals. If the disaster is widespread, there might be shelters and evacuation areas you can reach.

Home disasters like burst pipes and localized fires can leave you scrambling to protect your family and your property. Once again, a disaster preparedness plan can really help in the event of a home disaster. Here are a few things to keep in mind when facing a home disaster. 

• Grab Essentials if Able: Remember, no item is worth your life. Assess the situation quickly and grab only what you can carry without endangering yourself. Make sure household members and pets are secure before attempting to save items. 

• Retreat to a Safe Location: You might have your household rendezvous at a neighbor’s home or community hub like a coffee shop or recreation center immediately after the disaster. When children and pets are accounted for, look for temporary housing like a friend or family’s place, a short term rental, or extended stay hotel.

• Call Insurance Company Immediately: When you and your household members are safe, you should call your home insurance company as soon as possible to begin the process of a claim or assessing damages.

• Return When Safe to Assess Damages: When it is safe to do so, you can return to your home to see what damage has been done. If you find precious or functional items still in good shape, pack them into boxes to take to your next permanent home or put into storage until your old home is inhabitable again.

Late rent, lease violations, and a landlord’s desire to renovate or remodel a space can all lead to eviction. As eviction has a legal process and your landlord is required to provide advanced notice. The good news is this notice can be as long as 30 days. The bad news is this notice can be as short as 3 days, depending on local state law and the reason for eviction. 

If you’re facing eviction, here are four tips we have to navigate the process.

• Assess Your Eviction Timeline: You should receive a written notice of how long you have to vacate the property. If you are past the point of negotiating with your landlord and do not believe you can contest the eviction in court, you should aim to get moving on getting out immediately. 

• Pack Your Essentials: Pack your most essential items into boxes or backpacks and suitcases. Declutter and downsize as you pack. Call for junk removal or make a donation run for anything you have elected not to take with you.

• Rent Storage for the Rest: The remaining belongings you have that you want to keep you should put into storage. If you are being evicted due to a financial crisis, you should ask family and friend for help either with securing payment for storage or finding closet space to temporarily store your items. 

• Find Temporary Housing: Call friends and family to try and find a temporary place to stay first, especially if you are facing an eviction because of a lack of financial means. If you have no friends or family to turn to, contact churches and social services next. When money is not the issue, you might be able to secure a short-term rental or extended stay hotel. Move your essentials into your temporary housing space until you can find a more permanent living situation. 

Abuse and infidelity might cause a sudden breakup with your intimate partner. Even in a roommate situation, interpersonal relationships can get complicated. You might need to leave a living situation as soon as possible.

• Manage Your Moving Emotions: A breakup or falling out with a roommate will likely prompt extreme emotions like sadness and anger. Remember to practice good self-care during a move, and seek support from friends, family, and mental health professionals during this difficult time. 

• Declutter and Downsize While You Pack: Get rid of any items that are not going to your next home. If you are leaving a bad roommate situation or a relationship, you should be careful to grab all things that belong to you. Anything with unclear ownership should be left behind.

• Call Trusted Friends and Family: Your people are your first line of defense for finding help moving and securing temporary housing. If you do not have family or friends to rely on, you might be able to find social services like women’s shelters in your area to help you find a new living situation. 

• Seek Legal Help: If your move precedes or happens during a divorce, you will need legal help to navigate the process. Once you and any children you are bringing with you are safely away from the previous home, start looking for a divorce lawyer.

Sudden disability or an unexpected diagnosis can change your entire world in the blink of an eye, and it might call for a move to a new living situation. If you or someone you love is facing a health crisis or permanent health change, here are the things we advise as you seek new accommodations.

• Assess Housing Needs: In the event of an accident, illness, or injury that permanently or temporarily changes someone’s mobility, you should approach looking for a new home with accessibility at the forefront of your mind. This might mean moving from a 4^th floor apartment to a 1^st floor unit or a complex with an elevator. This could also mean moving closer to a hospital or specialist treating an illness. Make a list of needs for your next home.

• Create a Quick Moving Checklist: Once you know what kind of home you need to move into, you can set about your moving tasks in earnest. Take five to ten minutes and jot down all the to-dos for your move like disconnecting and reconnecting utilities, obtaining moving supplies, and making a donation run. 

• Get Professional Help for Heavy Lifting: While family and friends might rally to support you, there are definitely benefits to having the pros in your corner as well. If the health crisis you’re facing has led to a permanent or temporary change in mobility, you’re definitely going to need able-bodied helpers to assist with all the logistics of moving. Get help with packing, loading, and transport. 

• Be Sure to Provide Notice of Your Move: Make sure all interested parties including landlords, employers, and any doctors you are seeing are aware of your change of address and know where to reach you.

All My Sons Moving & Storage would be proud to help until the initial crisis has passed and you’re safely settled in a new permanent living situation. Get assistance with packing, finding storage solutions, and all the heavy lifting and loading. Local or long-distance, there’s no move too simple or complex for All My Sons. 

Call or click the quote button below to get started on your next move.