Most people start thinking about preparedness after a close call. The power was out for two days, or there was a boil-water notice, or the store shelves were empty for a week. Then they search online, find 200-item shopping lists and people stockpiling for the end of the world, and close the tab.
There is a calmer way to do this. Being prepared mostly means your household can get through a few days of disruption without a scramble. The lights are out, the roads are bad, or the tap water isn't safe to drink, and you already have what you need. This guide walks through where to start, in order, without buying everything at once.
What prepping means for a regular household
On this site, prepping means ordinary readiness for ordinary problems: power outages, winter storms, severe weather and a flooded basement.
It is closer to keeping a spare tire in the car than to building a bunker. You hope not to need it and it doesn't take much room, but you are glad it's there on the day you do.
Three ideas keep it manageable:
- Likely before unlikely. Prepare for what actually happens where you live.
- Home first. In an outage or a storm you will usually be staying put, so start with being comfortable at home.
- Small steps. One task a week adds up faster than a big shopping trip you never get around to.
Step 1: Know what you're preparing for
Before you buy anything, find out which emergencies are most common in your area. Ready.gov lists this among its no-cost first steps. A household in tornado country needs a slightly different plan from one that mostly deals with ice storms.
Then make sure warnings can reach you:
- Sign up for local alerts. Search for your county or city name plus "emergency alerts". Signing up is free.
- Leave Wireless Emergency Alerts switched on. These are short emergency messages that authorities can send to mobile phones in a targeted local area. Ready.gov explains how they work.
- Know about NOAA Weather Radio. It is a nationwide network of radio stations that broadcasts continuous weather information. Our guide to emergency radios covers which kind to look for.
Step 2: Cover a few days of basics
Ready.gov's basic emergency supply kit is a good starting list. Two numbers on it matter most:
- Water: one gallon per person per day, for several days, for drinking and sanitation.
- Food: at least a several-day supply of non-perishable food.
Ready.gov doesn't give an exact number of days. If you take "several" to mean three, a family of four needs 12 gallons of water. Our guides to how much water your family needs and building a 14-day pantry go further.
The rest of the basic list is short:
- Battery-powered or hand-crank radio, and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert
- Flashlight and extra batteries
- First aid kit
- Whistle, to signal for help
- Dust mask
- Plastic sheeting, scissors and duct tape, to shelter in place
- Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties, for sanitation
- Wrench or pliers, to turn off utilities
- Manual can opener
- Local maps
- Cell phone with chargers and a backup battery
Ready.gov also lists extras that depend on who lives in your home, such as medications, infant supplies, pet food, cash and copies of important documents. Read its full list once and note what applies to you.
For food, the advice from Ready.gov is simple: choose foods your family will eat. A shelf of things nobody likes isn't much help on a stressful day.
Step 3: Make a simple family plan
Supplies help less if nobody knows the plan. Ready.gov suggests sitting down as a household and answering five questions:
- How will I receive emergency alerts and warnings?
- What is my shelter plan?
- What is my evacuation route?
- What is my family/household communication plan?
- Do I need to update my emergency preparedness kit?
Write the answers down. Ready.gov offers a fillable form for this, and its last step is to practice the plan so everyone remembers it. Our guide to a family emergency communication plan walks through the fourth question in detail.
Step 4: Build slowly, and keep it up
You don't have to buy everything this month. Add one or two items to a regular grocery trip, or set a small monthly amount. Our guide to prepping on $25, $50 or $100 a month lays out an order to buy things in.
A few habits keep a kit useful:
- Give it one home. Ready.gov says to keep your kit in a designated place, and suggests supplies at work and in the car as well.
- Check it on a set date. Replace expired items, and re-think your needs every year as your family changes. Pick a date you will remember, such as when the clocks change.
Common beginner mistakes
- Buying gear before making a plan. The plan tells you what you need.
- Storing food nobody likes. Stock what you already eat, and eat from it so it stays fresh.
- Putting it away and forgetting it. Batteries run down and food expires.
- Trying to finish in one weekend. That is how people burn out and stop.
- Preparing for the dramatic and skipping the likely. A power outage is far more useful to plan for than a movie plot.
What to do this week
- Look up the emergencies most common in your area.
- Sign up for your city or county emergency alerts.
- Walk through your home with the Ready.gov basic kit list and gather what you already own.
- Count the water you have on hand against one gallon per person per day.
- Pick an evening to answer the five family plan questions together.
Where to go next
- The First 10 Things Every Household Should Have for an Emergency
- How to Start Prepping on $25, $50, or $100 a Month
- How Much Emergency Water Does Your Family Actually Need?
- Build a 14-Day Emergency Pantry With Foods You Already Eat