Simple home disaster preparedness

Simple and convenient steps you can take to protect those who wont prepare for themselves. One person can make a difference.

Updated 02mar10

Power outages, fires, floods, earthquakes, wind, and storms can interrupt utilities, phones, stores, ATMs, and travel for up to 3 days. You can be forced to leave your home because of sewage backflow, fire, chemical accident, or terrorist threat. These things occur when you are least prepared.

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.

This is an inexpensive common sense preparation document for the one person in the house who wants to help the rest. It isnt a complete guide to preparation; it only gives you a starting place.

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 do not let your regular canned goods run low.

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This page is obsolete.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 for detailed preparations

Click here for preparations for kids

Preparations

Buy appropriate insurance.
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.
Organize a camping kit. This is great to have in case you must leave home. Organize a family camping trip for whoever you can get to come at least once per year and make it fun.
Motivate everyone to make a travel bag. This is everything they need for an overnighter or a week-long vacation (except clothes) in one small bag. Travel bags save an hour of frustrating rounding stuff up every time someone wants to spend the night somewhere.
Put a family zip-kit in every car. If some people get around without cars, motivate them to put a personal zip-kit in their backpack or bike-bag. See the separate zip-kit document.
Pick two out-of-area relatives who messages could be left with in case of separation. Pick relatives most family members would know the phone number of. Tell the family members to leave messages there in case of separation.
Keep the computer backed up.
Install a smoke detector and a carbon monoxide detector. Keep the batteries fresh. Most houses have smoke detectors; the ones that do not have most of the fires. Inspectors find that 1/3 of all smoke detectors have missing batteries.
Keep two pocket flashlights and spare batteries. Hide them if necessary. Keep a flashlight by your bed where you can find it without fumbling around in the dark. Keep the batteries fresh.
Make sure there are enough blankets for a cold night with no heat.
Own some basic tools, like a claw hammer & nails, screwdrivers, big pliers, and an adjustable wrench.
Keep a fire extinguisher rated for grease in the kitchen. Shake the fire extinguishers every 6 months to keep the powder from caking.
Own a cell phone and keep the batteries charged.
Keep copies of insurance information and computer backups in a safe deposit box or with a relative in a distant city. Open safe deposit boxes annually or some states will gleefully sieze the contents.
Anchor water heaters, bookcases & cabinets to the wall to prevent toppling.
Put foam sleeves over exposed exterior pipes.
Keep 10 gallons of gasoline in a non-sparking can if possible. Put stored gasoline in your tank and buy new gasoline every year.
Keep a home disaster box hidden away for riding out disasters at home.
Keep an evacuation pack hidden away in case the disaster makes you leave home.
Women should always have a scarf. 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.
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.
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.

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