Basics. About 7 minutes to read, and about a month to put in place.
The power goes out at night. Your phone is at 12%, the street is dark, and nobody at home is sure where the flashlight is. Most of us picture ourselves calm and ready in that moment. The numbers say otherwise. In a 2023 US survey of 7,604 adults, 51% said they felt prepared for a disaster, but only 37% had made a plan in the past year, 48% had put together or updated supplies, and 15% had practised an emergency drill [1]. Feeling ready and being ready are two different things.
The plan follows the three steps that emergency agencies teach households around the world: know the risks, make a plan, and get a kit [3] [6]. It turns them into five skills, plus a short routine that keeps them working:
Each step below starts small, with something you can do today.
Step 1: Know Your Top 3 Risks and Get the Alerts
Why it matters. A flood, a wildfire, an earthquake and an ice storm each need different preparations. If you know which ones are most likely where you live, you prepare for those first instead of trying to prepare for everything at once. The first household message in international key messages is to learn about the possible hazards, local emergency plans and warning systems in the places where you live, work, study and play, and to identify hazards and weak points in your own home and surroundings [3]. Canada's plan opens the same way: learn about the emergencies that could happen where you live [6].
- Open the website of your city, county, province or state emergency management office. Look for a page called "hazards", "risks" or "emergency plan". Write down the 3 hazards it lists as most likely or most serious for your area.
- Look up your address on the official flood or hazard map for your country or region, if one exists. Kamaishi's schools taught children to use hazard maps but never to treat them as the limit of what could happen [7].
- Open your phone's settings (often under Notifications, Safety or Wireless Emergency Alerts) and check that emergency alerts are switched on.
Expected result. Within a day, you can name your top 3 risks, you know your emergency radio station, and official warnings will reach your phone.
Step 2: Make Your Household Plan
Why it matters. In an emergency, families get split up: one person at work, a child at school, phone lines jammed. A written plan that everyone knows removes the guessing. It also gives children, older relatives and anyone who needs help a clear role.
- Download the free household plan form from your emergency agency, or use a sheet of paper. Fill it in together at one sitting; it takes about an hour [6].
- Meeting place 1: right outside the home, for a sudden event like a fire (a neighbour's gate, a lamp post, a tree across the street).
- Meeting place 2: outside the neighbourhood, for when you cannot get home or the area is closed, such as a library, community centre or school [6].
- Out-of-area contact: a relative or friend in another city or country. Everyone sends that person one short text with their status, instead of calling each other. International key messages advise keeping phone use to a minimum in a disaster, using short text messages rather than voice calls, and sending just one short message to your out-of-area contact [3]. Choose a backup contact too.
The shut-off walk. This is the part most plans skip. International key messages ask you to learn where, when and how to turn off water, gas and electricity, to keep a clear path to each one, and to keep a wrench or other tool nearby if one is needed [3]. Find the main water shut-off, the electrical panel and the gas valve, label each one, and walk every adult and teen to it.
Expected result. Within a week, everyone at home can say where to meet, who to text and where the shut-offs are.
Step 3: Store Water, Food, Light and Medicine for 72 Hours
Why it matters. In a big disaster, water, power and shops can be out for days. Canada asks households to be ready to be self-sufficient for at least 72 hours [2]. Tokyo's estimate for a major earthquake under the city is sharper: power and communications out for about 4 days, water and sewage for about 21 days, and city gas for about 42 days, with up to 10 million people expected to keep living at home under those conditions [8]. 72 hours is the floor, not the goal.
Water: the numbers. Canada advises about 4 litres of water per person per day [2]. International key messages split this as about 2 litres for drinking and 2 for sanitation [3]. The World Health Organization's emergency technical note explains why the number moves: survival needs for drinking and food are 2.5 to 3 litres per person per day, basic hygiene 2 to 6 litres and basic cooking 3 to 6 litres, depending on climate, body and food [9].
- This week, buy or fill water containers for 3 days for everyone at home (see the table).
- Each time you shop, add 2 or 3 long-life items you already eat. In 3 to 4 weeks you will have 3 days of food.
- Put one flashlight in every bedroom, with spare batteries in the kit.
- Check and replace food, water, batteries and medicines at least once a year [2]; international key messages suggest checking food dates every 6 months [3].
Expected result. In 3 to 4 weeks, you have at least 72 hours of water, food, light and medicine at home, and a routine that keeps it fresh.
Step 4: Pack Grab-and-Go Bags and Practise Leaving
Why it matters. When an order to leave comes, minutes count. People lose them hunting for keys, documents and medicines. A packed bag by the door and a practised route turn a scramble into a routine.
- Pack one bag per person. An adult's bag holds the water, food and documents; a child's bag holds a change of clothes, a snack, a contact card and one comfort item, and must be light enough for the child to carry.
- Keep the bags near the main exit, together, where everyone can find them in the dark [2].
The timed drill. International key messages advise evacuation drills, including at home, at least twice a year, with every member of the household [3]. Time everyone getting out to meeting place 1 with their bags, and aim for under 10 minutes.
Expected result. Everyone can leave with what they need, and you know how long it really takes: your first time is your baseline.
Step 5: Get Through a Power Outage Safely
Why it matters. In an outage, the dark is not the main danger. Carbon monoxide (CO) and fire are. CO is a gas you cannot see or smell. A review of 28 reports on US disasters between 1991 and 2009 found 1,888 cases of disaster-related CO poisoning and 75 deaths. Generators were the main source in 83% of deaths, two-thirds of those because the generator was placed indoors, and charcoal grills were a major source during winter storms. Most deaths (94%) happened at home, and almost 89% of deaths happened within 3 days of the disaster starting [5]. The danger is greatest in the first days, when people are tired, cold and improvising.
The rules.
- Light: use battery flashlights or lanterns, not candles. International key messages advise extinguishing all flames in an outage, never lighting a flame (including matches, cigarettes or candles) after a disaster, and using only battery lights until you are sure there is no escaping gas or spilt fuel [3]. Never leave any candle burning unattended [3].
- Generators: use them outside only, at least 20 feet (about 6 metres) from homes, with the exhaust pointing away. Never use one inside a home or garage, even with the doors and windows open [4]. More than 100 deaths a year in the US are linked to portable generators [4]. Never refuel a generator indoors [3].
- Cooking and heat: never use a barbecue, charcoal grill or camp stove indoors or in a garage [5], and never use a kitchen oven to heat the home [3].
- CO alarms: install battery-operated CO alarms, or alarms with a battery backup, on every level of the home and outside sleeping areas; interconnected alarms are best, because when one sounds they all sound [4]. A plug-in alarm with no battery stops working exactly when the power goes out.
- Tonight, put a flashlight in every bedroom.
- This week, check each level of your home for a CO alarm with a battery or battery backup, and install one where it is missing [4]. Press the test button.
- List every device in your home that needs power: oxygen, a CPAP machine, a powered wheelchair, a medicine fridge, a sump pump. Backup power for each of these has its own article (see Go further).
Expected result. You can get through an outage with light, clean air and no open flames, and every level of your home has a working CO alarm.
Go further
- Carry the Right Kit Every Day: Pocket Kit, Get-home Bag and Go-bag covers go-bag gear in detail, such as water filters and food choices.
- Store Water and Food for Longer Emergencies, the Easy Way covers stocking for 2 weeks and more.
- Backup Power Without the Danger: Power Stations, Generators and Heaters in a Long Outage covers choosing and running backup power safely.
- Survive a City Disaster: Rubble, Floodwater, Gas Leaks and No Utilities covers what to do about a gas leak and floodwater.
- Act Instead of Freezing: Stay Calm and Step in During an Emergency covers why people freeze in a crisis and how to act.
- Food and medicine safety in long outages, backup power for medical devices, and staying warm or cool when the power is out for days each have their own Environmental preparedness article.
This article shares publicly available information from credible sources for education only. It is not medical, legal or financial advice. Always follow instructions from local officials in an emergency, and talk to your doctor or a qualified professional about your own situation.
Get help now: if you are in danger, or a CO alarm sounds, get out and call your local emergency number (911 in Canada and the US, 999 or 112 in the UK, 112 in the EU, 000 in Australia). Follow evacuation orders from local officials. For help building a plan, contact your local emergency management office or Red Cross or Red Crescent society.
