Basic disaster preparedness for the home

Simple and convenient steps everyone should take

Updated 02mar10

Power outages, fires, floods, earthquakes, wind, and storms can interrupt utilities, phones, stores, ATMs, and travel. You can be forced to leave your home because of flooding, sewage backflow, fire, chemical accident, or terrorist threat. These things occur when you are least prepared. This is an inexpensive common sense preparation document. It will help your commute and vacations.

The large disaster relief organizations can provide basic relief for a lot of people, but need a few days to get set up. Wise people are prepared to handle problems on their own for 3 days to a week.

Don't buy any survival kits or anything you are not familiar with. After the power goes out is not the time to try something out. Don't waste your money buying "special survival food". It will probably get old before you need it. Just keep your regular canned goods stocked.

This is not a complete guide to preparation; it is only to give you a starting place. Experience, training and special equipment provide better preparation. And nothing is better than common sense (which doesn't seem to be very common).

Notice

This document may be freely redistributed for educational purposes at no charge in unaltered form.

This information is for educational purposes only. There is no guarantee of any kind that it is accurate, or that no harm will come to anyone who uses it.

This information is provided on an "as is" basis with absolutely no warranty or guarantee. The information is not necessarily correct, complete, or suitable for any particular use. The entire risk is with you. Should harm arise from using this information, you assume responsibility for all damages and injuries. In no event shall the copyright holder, or any other party, be liable for compensation or damages arising from the use, misuse, failure to use, or inability to use this information.

This page is obsolete.
The new page is http://www.FamilyReady.org

Click here for the short version
Click here if your household won't cooperate with these preparations

Click here if you live with your parents

To prepare for trouble

Buy appropriate insurance.
Protect expensive electronics with a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply). Power line problems can fry your expensive possessions. A surge protector is inadequate, use a UPS. You only need it to power your stuff for ten minutes.
Locate the cutoffs for the water, gas, and electricity. There may be special tools to operate them, know where they are.
Make sure children can recite their name, address, & phone number. In addition, the name and phone number of a relative in a distant city in case of separation. They will forget unless drilled regularly.
Agree beforehand to call a certain relative in another city in case of separation away from home. Remind everyone before going on vacation.
Install a smoke detector and a carbon monoxide detector. Make sure your smoke detectors have good batteries. Most houses have smoke detectors; the ones that don't have most of the fires. Inspections find that 1/3 of all smoke detectors have missing batteries.
Make a fire escape plan. House fires can spread quickly, and the smoke is what's dangerous. Everyone should practice jumping out of bed and running out the main route and the backup route at least once a year. Decide on the one thing to grab on the way out, and do not stop if it isn't where it should be (a key ring, purse or wallet would be a good choice). Do not look for anything, do not linger! The fire department recommends you don't try to save anything, just get out as fast as you can.
Arrange nightlights to light the way out in case of fire. It takes as long to find a light switch as it does to get out.
Keep slip-on shoes by your bed. The most common injury from fire, earthquake, and other sudden emergencies is running on broken glass. Without shoes you are likely to be injured, and this is a bad time to not be able to walk.
Own and maintain a good household first aid kit. Don't let the supplies run low.
Put a family zip-kit in every car. If some people get around without cars, put a personal zip-kit in their backpack or bike-bag. See the separate zip-kit document.
Maintain a 3 to 7 day reserve of supplies for babies and everyones special needs. Don't wait until you are running out to buy more. Some areas should use a bigger reserve.
Keep canned food on hand, 10 cans per person. Maintain this reserve. Keep a manual can opener.
Keep bottled water on hand, 5 gallons per person. Maintain this reserve. It only keeps 6 months, so date or number the jugs and use the oldest ones first.
Maintain enough paper plates, plastic forks, and foam cups to serve 10 meals without washing dishes. Figure out how many packages this is. Buy more before you run low.
Keep candles on hand, three candles per room. Maintain this reserve. Train the children not to touch the matches or candles.
Keep flashlights on hand, 1 in every room. "Headlamps" that strap to your forehead are invaluable. So are high-candlepower flashlights that can recharge from a cars cigarette lighter. So are lanterns and lantern-type flashlights. Avoid oil lamps.
Keep a flashlight by the bed, one per person. Put it where it can be found without fumbling around in the dark. Glow-in-the-dark flashlights are good for this, but must be stored where light can reach them.
Keep batteries on hand, one refill per flashlight, one refill per radio. Maintain this reserve.
Own a barbeque or camping stove. Keep enough fuel to cook 10 times. Maintain this reserve.
If you have a fireplace, keep wood on hand to keep warm for three cold winter nights. Maintain this reserve.
Own enough blankets for a cold night with no heat.
Keep toilet paper on hand, three rolls per person. Maintain this reserve.
Keep 10 gallons of gasoline in non-sparking cans, or never let your vehicles get below 1/2 tank. You choose. Maintain this reserve. Put stored gasoline in your tank and buy new gasoline every year.
Own some basic tools, like a claw hammer & nails, screwdrivers, big pliers, and an adjustable wrench.
Own an axe, saw, or other way to cut wood. It can cut 2x4s for repairs, make firewood, and remove fallen limbs.
Own a big pry bar to move heavy things.
Own sunscreen.
Own petroleum jelly. It is a lip balm, a lubricant, and can seal out water.
Keep some liquid antibacterial soap. Buy more before opening your last bottle.
Keep at least one jug of unscented bleach on hand at all times.
Own a bucket or two.
Keep a fire extinguisher rated for grease in the kitchen.
Own one or two multi-purpose fire extinguishers. Maintain them. Shake them every 6 months to keep the powder from caking.
Own a shovel and a garden trowel, or at least a garden trowel. These are for sanitation.
Keep at least one unopened box of plastic garbage bags on hand. Don't let the supplies run low. You can put things in them, cover things with them to keep the rain off, or cut them up into small temporary tarps. You can make rain ponchos and skirts. You can use them for sanitation if you cannot dig.
Keep good raingear on hand for everyone. For some reason disasters are usually followed by drenching rain, deep mud, and freezing cold. If it doesn't rain, the firemen will drench everything.
Own a hat for everyone.
Everyone needs boots that are already broken in.
Own a cell phone and keep the batteries charged.
Take pictures of everything you might want to use insurance to replace if there is no other record that you own it. Photograph every room, all possessions. Repeat every year. Make sure the pictures are up to date annually. Record the model and serial numbers. Store this with your insurance information.
Own a safe deposit box. Store documents, insurance information, and computer backups in it. Leaving copies of these items with a relative in a distant city works. They can be zip-locked and put into the freezer for fire-safety, but this is not quite as good. Open safe deposit boxes annually or some states will gleefully seize the contents.
Anchor water heaters, bookcases & cabinets to the wall to prevent toppling.
Put foam sleeves over exposed exterior pipes.
Install a sewage backflow valve.
Make a secret web page that nobody can reach unless they know how. It should have scans of drivers licenses, passports, and health insurance. Without your ID you can't rent a motel room or a car, use your airplane tickets, or even ride a bus! For extra security, the page should not have birth certificates. If you don't have a web page, put it on a relatives web page. Be sure to encode or obscure ID codes like drivers license numbers, social security, and passport numbers.
Bleach can react with other household cleaners, producing chlorine gas. They used it to kill people in world war I. Do not store bleach in the same cabinet with other chemicals or cleaners (other than laundry products).
Ammonia based cleaners can react with other household cleaners, producing dangerous ammonia gas. Do not store ammonia in the same cabinet with other chemicals or cleaners.
Women should always have a scarf handy. Most people on the planet always have some sort of scarf or bandana, except for urban/suburbanites in safe industrialized countries. Scarves have hundreds of practical and fashion uses. See the separate pictorial scarf research document.
Earthquake-proof your home, earthquakes can happen anywhere. No heavy things that can fall from high places onto your head. No heavy things on the wall over headboards. Secure tall furniture to the wall so it will not fall on you. Bolt your house to the foundation. Install water-heater straps.
Identify a "back-road" route to use to get out of the area when the highways are clogged. This is handy to know about on holiday weekends. The route does not have to be faster, just less likely to be clogged.
Put a 72-hour kit in the trunk of you car. It is just enough to get by for a few days. See the separate 72-hour kit document.
Establish good relations with your neighbors. They are priceless in emergencies. Good neighbors can make your life easier in the best of times.
When you interact with a contractor, plumber, or hardware store manager, maintain a simple long-term relationship. They are good to know when problems occur.

Your preparation needs will differ. Go over this list once a year to make sure you are still prepared.

Preparing for others	Home emergency kits
For kids	Zip kits
Preparing at work	72-hour kits
Preparing your car	During & aftwerwards