In my previous blog post, I covered the importance of having a family emergency plan. Your plan should cover where you and your family members will go and how you’ll communicate when an emergency, such as severe weather or a man-made event, strikes.
Everyone should have some basic supplies on hand in order to survive for at least three days if an emergency occurs. It’s a good idea to have at least two emergency supply kits, one full kit at home and smaller portable kits in their workplace, vehicle or other places they spend time.
Following is a listing of some basic items that every emergency supply kit should include. However, it is important for you to review this list and consider where you live and your family’s unique needs.
- Water, one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation
- Food, at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food
- Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both
- Flashlight and extra batteries
- First aid kit Whistle to signal for help
- Dust mask, to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
- Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation
- Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
- Can opener for food (if kit contains canned food)
- Local maps
Basic services such as electricity, gas, water, sewage treatment and telephones might be cut off for days or even a week, or longer. Your kit should contain items to help you manage during these outages.