Emergency Preparedness: Answers to the Questions Everyone Is Asking

The universally cited baseline is one gallon of water per person per day, with a minimum of a three-day supply for evacuation scenarios and a two-week supply for sheltering at home. FEMA and the Red Cross both use this figure as the foundation for household planning.

However, that baseline assumes average conditions. You should increase your stored water significantly if any of the following apply to your household:

For a family of four in a temperate climate, a two-week home supply means storing at least 56 gallons. Commercial 55-gallon water barrels stored in a cool, dark location are the most cost-effective solution for this volume.

A 72-hour kit — also called a "go bag" or "bug-out bag" — is designed to sustain you and your household for three days during an evacuation or immediate disaster response. The name comes from the standard emergency management guidance that local responders typically need 72 hours to mobilize full-scale relief operations.

Emergency food shelf life varies enormously depending on the type of food and how it is stored. Temperature, humidity, light exposure, and packaging are the four variables that determine how long food remains safe and nutritious.

The most important rule: rotate your stock. Use the "first in, first out" principle — consume the oldest items first and replace them with fresh stock. This keeps your supply perpetually fresh without waste.

A family emergency plan answers four core questions before a disaster occurs: Where will we go? How will we communicate? How will we reunite? What do we do in each type of emergency? FEMA recommends completing this plan in a single family meeting and then practicing it at least once a year.

Follow these five steps to build a complete plan:

Most power outages resolve within a few hours, but extended outages lasting days or weeks — increasingly common during major storms, wildfires, and grid failures — require a more structured response. Here is what to do at each stage:

Preparing for natural disasters follows a universal framework regardless of the specific hazard — the details differ by disaster type, but the underlying structure is the same: Know your risk. Build your kit. Make your plan. Stay informed.

FEMA's minimum recommendation is a three-day supply of non-perishable food for evacuation scenarios. For sheltering at home during an extended emergency — such as a major hurricane, prolonged power outage, or pandemic — the Red Cross recommends a two-week supply, and many preparedness experts recommend building toward a 30-day supply over time.

Calculate your household's daily caloric needs and plan accordingly. The average adult requires approximately 2,000 calories per day. For a family of four over two weeks, that means storing roughly 112,000 calories of shelf-stable food — achievable with a combination of canned goods, dried grains, and freeze-dried meals.

A generator is not strictly necessary for most emergencies, but it becomes significantly more valuable in specific situations: households with medical equipment that requires electricity, regions prone to extended power outages (hurricane zones, rural areas), and homes with electric-only heating in cold climates.

If you purchase a portable generator, store at least five to ten gallons of treated gasoline (with fuel stabilizer) in approved containers. Rotate the fuel supply every 6–12 months.

Losing access to critical documents during a disaster can delay insurance claims, medical treatment, and government assistance for weeks or months. Store physical copies of the following in a waterproof, fireproof bag or container in your emergency kit — and keep digital copies in a secure cloud storage account:

Reliable information during a disaster can be the difference between a safe decision and a dangerous one. The key is having multiple redundant information sources, because any single channel — cell service, internet, television — can fail during a major emergency.