Have one contact who lives somewhere else. When something happens locally, everyone tries to call the same area and the networks fill up. A relative two hours away is often easier to reach and becomes the point everyone checks in with.

Practise the fire route once, out loud, with everyone. People do not rise to the occasion in an emergency; they fall back on what they have actually done before. In the UK the free number for advice is 111, and emergencies are 999.