The other day I arrived home from work to find my wife packing.

No, she wasn't leaving me (yet). Awash in anxiety borne of the recent hurricanes and the sight of the better part of Los Angeles County's backcountry in flames as fire season began, she was just going to be ready if the need to flee arose. Having been chased from our home once before during the 2003 fires, this time she was going to be ahead of the game.

If you, too, want to plan ahead or stay on top of what's happening during the next big event here, revisiting some Web sites we've cited previously might be in order.

Official sites that were caught off-guard in 2003 surely will do a better job when the next big fires, earthquake or plague of locusts strike San Diego County.

Emergency evacuation orders, school closings and other disaster information will be posted on the San Diego County Sheriff's Department's Web site at www.sdsheriff.net, the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services Web site at www.sdcounty.ca.gov/oes or the city of San Diego's Web site at www.sannet.gov.

In case of fires, probably the most likely of events to threaten the region, the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection's Web site at www.fire.ca.gov features major incident reports as well as fire prevention and planning advice.

If you're not sure how to go about putting together an emergency plan, a number of sites offer tips and strategies.

The Red Cross site at www.redcross.org has a Get Prepared page that offers do-it-yourself preparedness advice for home, school, work and community situations.

The Governors Office of Emergency Services Web site offers the Top 10 disaster preparedness tips at www.oes.ca.gov. The site also links to PDF brochures and even audio versions of the tips.

The Department of Homeland Security page at www.ready.gov offers complete information not only for home preparedness planning but for businesses as well.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency offers the FEMA For Kids page at www.fema.gov/kids to keep things fun and simple for children, parents, teachers and political appointees.

The American Academy of Pediatrics page at www.aap.org offers a more scholarly look at the issues of pre- and post-disaster planning for kids.

Since the unwillingness to leave pets behind played a part in why so many people chose not to leave New Orleans, the Humane Society of the United States site at www.hsus.org offers advice on preparing animals for disaster.

After a disaster has passed, other issues arise for those exposed to the trauma. Sites from the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder at www.ncptsd.va.gov and the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress at www.nctsnet.org help people know what to expect.

Andrew Kleske is online editor for the North County Times. E-mail him at kleske@nctimes.com.