Two kits, not one
Most emergencies keep you at home without power or water, and a few force you out in minutes, so prepare for both. The home supply sits in a closet or the garage. The go bag is a backpack for each person near the door, packed for three days, and light enough to carry.
What goes in
FEMA's basic list is short, and most of it is already in your house.
- Store water at one gallon per person per day, for three days at minimum and two weeks if you have the space.
- Store at least three days of food that needs no cooking, together with a manual can opener.
- Keep a flashlight for each person, spare batteries, and a battery or hand-crank radio that receives NOAA weather broadcasts.
- Keep a first aid kit, a week of prescription medicines, and spare glasses.
- Keep a phone charger with a charged power bank, a whistle, dust masks, and a wrench or pliers for shutting off utilities.
- Keep garbage bags, moist wipes, soap and toilet paper for sanitation.
- Keep cash in small bills, because card readers and cash machines fail when the power does.
- Keep copies of identification, insurance policies, and lease or deed in a waterproof bag, with scans stored online.
Add supplies for infants and pets, a paper map, sturdy shoes and a warm layer, and keep the car's gas tank at least half full.
The plan
- Choose one meeting place just outside your home for a fire and a second outside your neighborhood in case you cannot return.
- Choose an out-of-town contact whom everyone will text, since long-distance messages often get through when local calls do not.
- Write the important numbers on paper, because a dead phone remembers nothing.
- Learn the hazards your area actually faces, your evacuation zone and two routes out.
- Find the shutoffs for water and electricity, and learn how the gas shuts off. Close the gas valve only if you smell gas or are told to, because the utility must turn it back on.
- Sign up for your county's emergency alerts.
Keeping it current
Review the kit twice a year when the clocks change. Replace stored water and expired food, update the documents and medicines, and check that clothes still fit any children.
Tip Eat from the emergency shelf and restock it as part of ordinary shopping. Food that rotates is food that is still good when you need it.
