How to Prepare Your Family for Emergencies: The 6-Part Plan

Most families already own half of what they need. A flashlight in a drawer, canned soup, a kit in the car. What is missing is not stuff. It is 45 minutes at the kitchen table deciding who calls whom, where you meet, and who grabs the dog.

So here is how to prepare your family for emergencies without buying anything: 6 decisions, in order, 4 of them free.

How do you prepare your family for emergencies?

In 6 parts, in this order:

1. Know what your area faces.

2. Make a communication plan, on paper.

3. Decide: shelter in place or evacuate.

4. Build supplies, water first.

5. Assign roles, then practice.

6. Protect the papers and the money.

Part 1. What emergencies does your family need to prepare for?

The ones with a local track record, not the ones on the news. A plan built for a generic disaster prepares you for nothing in particular.

Start with NOAA. The Storm Events Database holds records from January 1950 to May 2026 across 49 event types, searchable by state or area. Ten minutes there tells you whether your area gets ice storms every 3 winters or has never had one.

Then go local. The National Weather Service groups its guidance into 18 hazard categories, and your state keeps its own list. Washington's state list names 12, including avalanche, volcano and radiological.

One detail catches people every year. Hernando County, Florida tells residents to check both their evacuation zone and their flood zone, because "these two zone types are not the same."

Today: search your county plus "emergency management," then write down your evacuation zone and top 3 hazards.

Part 2. How do you make a family emergency communication plan?

Pick 1 contact who lives far away, agree everyone texts that person first, and write the number on paper.

The American Red Cross recommends a contact outside your local area, because calls and texts often go through more easily when local lines are overloaded. Everyone reports in to that person, who becomes the switchboard.

Text, do not call. The FCC and FEMA say "text messages to other wireless devices may go through when your call may not, though there may be a delivery delay during times of network congestion." A voice call holds a circuit open for its whole length. A text is a small packet that can queue and retry. The same guidance says "wait 10 seconds before redialing."

Write it on a card. Phones die, and cloud contacts need a password and a data connection. Hernando County says keep the cards in wallets, backpacks and vehicles. One channel works when yours does not: the National Weather Service says Wireless Emergency Alerts need no signup and are not affected by congestion.

Today: write 1 card per person with the out-of-area contact, both meeting points, 2 cell numbers and each kid's school line. Our one-page communication plan template lays it out.

Part 3. Should your family shelter in place or evacuate?

The hazard decides, not your mood. Wind and flying debris means go inside and go down. Fast-moving and local means leave.

Take a tornado warning. The National Weather Service says go to "your basement, safe room, or an interior room away from windows," and that a mobile home, a tent and a vehicle are all unsafe. So mobile home residents need a sturdy building picked out now, not at 2 a.m. Hurricanes, wildfires and floods run the other way: you leave on the official order for your zone.

Two things make an evacuation plan real:

• 2 routes with no shared chokepoint. If both cross the same bridge, you have 1 route. Drive each one once in daylight.

• 2 meeting points. The Red Cross says one right outside your home for a sudden fire, and one outside your neighborhood for when you cannot get back. Make the first specific: "the big oak at the end of the driveway," not "the front yard."

Then find your gas shutoff, water shutoff and main breaker, and put the right tool next to each. Our guide to evacuation routes and meeting points covers the mapping.

Part 4. What supplies should a family build first?

Water, then food, then light and power, then first aid, then sanitation. Buy in that order and you are never badly exposed.

Water first, because nothing substitutes for it. The CDC says "store at least 1 gallon of water per person, per day for 3 days" and "try to store a 2-week supply if possible." The Red Cross uses the same figure, plus more for pets and anyone pregnant or sick.

For a family of 4 that is 12 gallons for 3 days and 56 gallons for 2 weeks. That 56 gallons weighs about 470 pounds, so store it low and split it up. Replace self-filled containers every 6 months.

Food second, leading with what you can eat without cooking, because the stove may be what is out.

Light and power third: a flashlight, spare batteries, and a battery-powered or hand-crank radio, ideally a NOAA Weather Radio. It works when the cell network does not.

First aid fourth, and here is the figure most households miss. The Red Cross says keep a 7-day supply of medications. Not the kit. The prescriptions.

Sanitation fifth, and it includes making water safe. The CDC says boil for 1 minute, or disinfect with unscented household bleach: about 8 drops per gallon of clear water, stirred, then left 30 minutes. Our home emergency kit checklist has the rest.

Part 5. Who does what, and how often should your family practice?

Name a person for every job out loud, then run the plan twice a year. Unassigned jobs do not get done. The Red Cross says give each household member specific responsibilities, which means saying names:

• Who gets the kids, and who backs them up.

• Who gets the pets, carriers included. "Someone will grab the dog" is how a dog gets left.

• Who grabs the document folder and the cash.

• Who shuts off the gas, and who confirms it.

• Who texts the out-of-area contact once everyone is accounted for.

The fire drill. The Red Cross says "you may have less than two minutes to escape from a burning home," everyone should know 2 ways out of every room, and smoke alarms get tested monthly. Tennessee Emergency Management adds what makes it a real drill: time it, and see whether everyone is out in under 2 minutes.

The evacuation drill. Practice twice a year, bring your kit, and drive the route. That is where you find the low bridge. And because many public shelters cannot take animals, the Red Cross says keep a list of pet-friendly hotels along your routes.

Part 6. How do you protect your documents and your money?

One grab-and-go folder, one copy stored elsewhere, and enough small bills to get by without a card reader.

CAL FIRE's evacuation shorthand is the 6 P's, the best packing list anyone has written. As the City of Goleta lists it: People and pets. Papers and important documents. Prescriptions, vitamins and eyeglasses. Pictures and irreplaceable memorabilia. Personal computer hard drive. Plastic (credit and ATM cards) and cash.

The Red Cross folder list: medication lists, proof of address, deed or lease, passports, birth certificates, insurance policies. Copies, not originals.

The insurance photos are the step people skip and regret. The California Department of Insurance suggests you "walk around with a video camera, video every drawer and commentary about each item, email to someone offsite," record serial numbers, and keep a copy in at least 2 places. Your off-site backup can be a person: Hernando County tells residents to send the out-of-area contact copies of ID and insurance policies.

On cash, be honest. McHenry County, Illinois emergency management warns that "power may be lost or unavailable, access to ATM's or credit cards may be non-existent." It names no dollar figure, and no agency we could find publishes one, so treat any number online as opinion, ours included. What is not opinion is the shape: small bills. A gas station on a generator cannot break a 100.

The part most guides skip: family emergency plans fail on the handoffs

Almost nobody's plan fails because a flashlight was dead. It fails at the seam between 2 people:

1. School and daycare release rules. Howard County Public Schools in Maryland tells parents flatly: "DO NOT call or rush to your child(ren)'s school." Students "will NOT be released during a lockdown," and release happens "ONLY to parents/guardians who are documented as emergency contacts and who present a photo ID." So a neighbor who is not on that list cannot take your child. Add 2 local backups.

2. A spouse who commutes out of the area. If one adult works 40 minutes away across a river, a pass, or a single highway, build the plan assuming that adult is not home for 12 hours. That changes who gets the kids.

3. A family member who cannot self-evacuate. Someone on oxygen, someone using a wheelchair, a parent with dementia. Many counties keep a voluntary registry. Dutchess County, New York runs an Access and Functional Needs Registry, a confidential list so responders know what assistance you need. Sign up, then plan as though nobody comes, because a registry is a planning tool and not a promise. Name 2 neighbors who will help, and ask them out loud.

4. A neighbor who does not read English. Official bulletins may never reach them in a language they can act on. Washington's Emergency Management Division publishes disaster fact sheets in multiple languages for this reason. Printing 1 page and walking it next door does more good than another case of water.

How long does it take to prepare your family for emergencies?

The planning takes about an hour. The supplies take a few paychecks.

• Tonight, 45 minutes: look up your hazards and evacuation zone, pick the out-of-area contact, write the cards, choose 2 meeting points.

• This month: 3 days of water and no-cook food, a flashlight, a hand-crank radio, 7 days of medications, the document folder, cash in small bills.

• This quarter: build toward 2 weeks of water, add 2 backup contacts at school, run 1 timed fire drill and 1 evacuation drive.

You do not have to be extreme to be ready. Start with what you have, and build from there.

Frequently asked questions

How do I start preparing my family for emergencies with no money?

Do parts 1, 2, 3 and 5 first, because they cost nothing. Looking up your hazards, naming an out-of-area contact, writing cards, picking 2 meeting points and running a timed fire drill are free, and separation is a more common failure than missing gear.

How much water should a family of 4 store for an emergency?

12 gallons for 3 days, and about 56 gallons for 2 weeks, based on the CDC and Red Cross figure of at least 1 gallon per person per day. Store extra for pets and anyone pregnant or sick. That 56 gallons weighs roughly 470 pounds, so split it across low shelves.

Why should you text instead of call during an emergency?

Because texts get through when calls do not. The FCC and FEMA say text messages to other wireless devices may go through when your call will not, though delivery can be delayed when the network is congested. A voice call ties up a circuit for its whole length. A text queues and retries.

Where should my family meet if we get separated in an emergency?

At 2 spots chosen in advance. The Red Cross recommends one right outside your home for a sudden house fire, and a second outside your neighborhood for when you cannot get back. Make both specific enough for a 9-year-old to describe.

How often should a family practice its emergency plan?

Twice a year, in 2 drills. The Red Cross recommends practicing your home fire escape plan twice a year, and evacuating with your kit twice a year, driving the actual route. Time the fire drill: you may have under 2 minutes to get out of a burning home.

The numbers, in one place

You never know, but you can always be ready.

Sources: CDC, CDC Disaster Safety, American Red Cross, Red Cross Kit List, Red Cross Fire Safety, FCC and FEMA, NWS Alerts, NWS Tornado Safety, NWS Safety, NOAA NCEI, Washington EMD, Hernando County, Florida EM, Howard County Public Schools, Dutchess County, New York EM, McHenry County, Illinois EM, California Department of Insurance, City of Goleta, CAL FIRE, Tennessee EMA.