EMERGENCIES AND WEATHER · 4 MIN
Build an emergency kit and a family plan
In short
What to keep at home for a few days without power or water, copies of your documents, and a simple plan for your family.
In a disaster, help may take days to reach everyone. Officials ask every household to be ready to manage on its own for several days.
A basic kit
Put these in a bag or a plastic box, in one place everyone knows:
Water: one gallon (about 4 liters) per person per day, for several days.
Food that does not need cooking: cans (with a manual can opener), peanut butter, crackers, dried fruit.
Flashlight and extra batteries. Avoid candles.
Battery or hand-crank radio for news.
Phone chargers and a power bank.
First aid kit and a week of your prescription medicines.
Cash in small bills. Card machines may not work.
Whistle, dust masks, plastic sheeting and tape, wet wipes, garbage bags.
Baby formula, diapers, pet food, glasses, hearing aid batteries as needed.
Warm clothes and blankets, especially in cold regions.
Copies of your documents
Keep copies in a waterproof bag in the kit and safely online:
Passports, visas, I-94, green cards, work permits, I-20 or DS-2019, I-797 notices.
Birth and marriage certificates, Social Security cards.
Insurance cards, leases, bank details, medical lists.
A family plan
1
Meeting places: one near your home, one outside your area.
2
An out-of-area contact: a friend or relative in another state or at home whom everyone calls or messages. Local lines can be busy when long-distance messages get through.
3
Write down phone numbers on paper. Phones die.
4
Know how to turn off water, gas and electricity at home. Ask your landlord.
5
Learn your children's school plan for emergencies and who can pick them up.
6
Practice once a year: fire escape, tornado shelter spot or earthquake drill.
Help after a disaster
Shelters run by the Red Cross and local governments are open to everyone. They do not check immigration status in general.
FEMA individual assistance requires that someone in the household is a US citizen, a US national or a qualified non-citizen (for example a green card holder). A parent can apply on behalf of a US-citizen child. Other help, such as shelters, food and emergency medical care, is not limited this way.
Apply at disasterassistance.gov or call FEMA. Watch for fake "FEMA" callers asking for fees; FEMA does not charge to apply.
Common mistakes
Waiting for a storm warning to shop. Shelves empty fast.
Keeping your only copy of important papers in the house.
Forgetting medicine refills before a hurricane or winter storm.
Read next