Most emergencies are ordinary: the power goes out, the water is interrupted, a storm closes the roads, a wildfire or a gas leak sends the neighborhood out the door for a night. The households that handle these well are not the ones with the biggest stockpile. They are the ones that did a few sensible things early and know the people around them.

These ten steps are in order. Do the first one tonight.

  1. Know your risks. Which disruptions are actually likely where you live — outage, wildfire, earthquake, flood, heat, winter storm, a water advisory? Your county emergency management office and the National Weather Service list them. Prepare for those first.
  2. Make a household plan. Where does everyone meet if you cannot go home? Who is the out-of-area contact everyone calls? Who picks up the children? Write it on one page and give everyone a copy. Our printable is below.
  3. Store essential water. Water is the first thing to run short and the hardest to improvise. Ready.gov says how much to keep for each person and for how long; store that, in clean containers, in a cool dark place, and know how to make more of it safe.
  4. Build a practical food reserve. Not survival rations: extra of what you already eat, chosen so it keeps without refrigeration and can be eaten without cooking. Rotate it through your normal meals.
  5. Prepare for loss of electricity. Flashlights and headlamps, spare batteries, a way to charge a phone, a plan for the refrigerator and for anyone whose medical equipment needs power. Never a generator or a grill indoors.
  6. Prepare communications. A battery or hand-crank radio, emergency alerts turned on, phone numbers written down on paper, and a family text plan for when calls will not connect.
  7. Medications and first aid. A written list of every prescription, a small reserve where your prescriber and pharmacy allow it, a first aid kit you have actually opened, and a plan for anyone who depends on refrigerated medicine or powered equipment.
  8. Know your neighbors. Names, phone numbers, who has which skill, who lives alone, who would need help leaving. This step costs nothing and matters more than any purchase.
  9. Learn useful skills. First aid and CPR, stopping serious bleeding, how to shut off your utilities, safe cooking without power. Established courses teach all of them.
  10. Review and practice. Twice a year: check the water and food, replace batteries, update the plan, walk the evacuation route, and try one night with the lights off.

The Ladder

You do not have to do everything at once. The Ladder is five rungs; each one you reach is worth having, and the first is tonight.

  1. TonightKnow your risks. Fill a few containers. Find the flashlight. Agree where the family meets.
  2. 72 HoursEnough water, food, light, medicine and a way to reach each other to get through three days on your own.
  3. 2 WeeksThe point where most disruptions have ended, and where a household reserve really pays.
  4. 30 DaysSupplies matter less than skills, routines and the people around you.
  5. 3 Months+No household carries this alone. Neighborhoods, congregations and towns can.

The full Ladder — every rung as a checklist — is coming as a printable. The 72-hour rung is ready now.

What this site will not do

It will not give you a 200-item shopping list. It will not predict what disaster is coming. It will not tell you how many gallons to store in its own words; for that it sends you to the agencies whose job it is, and it says so on every page. And it will not try to frighten you. Fear makes people hoard, isolate and freeze. Calm preparation frees you to help.