Emergency Preparedness Basics
Make a plan, build a kit, and get ready on a budget.
Reviewed November 14, 2026
Start with a household plan
Write down two meeting places: one just outside your home and one outside your neighborhood. Pick an out-of-area contact and give everyone a printed copy. Practice the plan with children, caregivers, and anyone who might be home alone.
Build up from 72 hours
Start with three days of familiar shelf-stable meals and about one gallon of water per person per day for drinking and sanitation. Account separately for pets and individual needs. Label supplies and rotate them into ordinary meals before they expire.
Extend to seven or thirty days
Treat a week and a month as gradual home-storage goals. Add one extra item you already use each shopping trip. For two people, the baseline is six gallons for three days, fourteen for a week, and sixty for a month. Check space and weight before scaling up, and keep a smaller portable kit for leaving.
Plan to stay or leave
Pick a shelter location for your local hazards and identify two ways out of your neighborhood. Follow local evacuation and shelter orders. Keep a bag by the exit with medication information, glasses, copies of essential documents, a charger, keys, and a contact card.
Run a ten-minute practice
Find a flashlight in the dark, send a test check-in, and walk your exit route. Write down what took longest and fix that first. Update the plan when school, work, medication, transportation, or caregiving arrangements change.