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Make a written plan before an alert arrives: know how your area sends warnings, where your household will meet, how you will evacuate or shelter safely, and what each person needs if the power is out for several days. Include pets, medical equipment, medicines, communication backups, and neighbors who may need help. Practice the plan and keep a paper copy where you can find it without a phone.
1. Learn your local flood risk and alert system
Start with your home’s location and the hazards around it. Use FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center to look up flood-map information, then contact local emergency management to learn how officials issue flood watches, warnings, and evacuation directions. Flood maps are one input to planning; they do not replace current local alerts or instructions. Floods can develop quickly, and flash floods may arrive with little warning.
Enable available local alerts and identify a backup source, such as the Emergency Alert System or a NOAA Weather Radio. The FEMA App can provide National Weather Service alerts for up to five selected locations and help locate shelters. Check that alerts cover the places household members spend time, such as work, school, or a caregiver’s home.
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2. Make a household contact and meeting plan
Write down each household member’s phone number and email, school and workplace contacts, local emergency numbers, and one out-of-area contact. Pick a nearby meeting place and a second meeting place outside the immediate area in case you cannot return home. Choose more than one evacuation destination and route; roads can close or become unsafe. Check in advance whether destinations accept pets and service animals.
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- 72 HOUR EMERGENCY KIT FOR 2 PEOPLE WITH FOOD AND WATER: Includes 2 emergency food bars totaling 4800 calories and 12 sealed drinking water pouches to support hydration and energy during disasters. Designed for emergency preparedness, survival kits, earthquake kits, and evacuation planning.
- COMPLETE DISASTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH SHELTER AND WARMTH: Equipped with 2 emergency ponchos and 2 survival blankets to help protect against rain, wind, and cold conditions. Critical gear for outdoor emergencies, power outages, and shelter in place situations.
- FIRST AID KIT AND SAFETY PROTECTION SUPPLIES: Features a 33 piece first aid kit, dust masks, and nitrile gloves to support basic medical care and protection from debris and airborne particles. Essential for emergency response, injury care, and disaster safety.
- EMERGENCY LIGHTING AND SIGNALING TOOLS INCLUDED: Comes with 2 long lasting 12 hour lightsticks and a safety whistle for visibility and communication in low light or rescue situations. Ideal for blackout emergencies, nighttime evacuation, and search scenarios.
- COMPACT BACKPACK FOR GRAB AND GO EVACUATION: Lightweight emergency backpack keeps all survival supplies organized and ready for fast response. Perfect for home emergency kits, car emergency kits, office preparedness, and bug out bags.
Decide how the household will communicate if calls fail or phones run low on power. FEMA recommends texting or messaging when calls may not go through. Keep the contact sheet and plan on paper as well as on devices, and tell every household member where the paper copy is stored. Practice how you will leave and where you will meet.
- Include children, older adults, people with disabilities, and anyone who needs help with transportation or communication.
- List medications, mobility aids, service animals, and other essentials that must travel with each person.
- Arrange in advance to check on neighbors who may need assistance, if it is safe to do so.
3. Decide when to evacuate and where to shelter
Follow local evacuation orders and leave promptly when directed. Do not wait for water to reach the home or assume that a familiar road remains passable. Take the household’s critical supplies and documents, but do not delay departure to collect belongings. Whether to evacuate or shelter in place depends on official instructions, how quickly water is rising, whether a route is safe, and whether the building is a safe place to remain.
Never walk, swim, or drive through floodwater, and do not drive around barricades. Water can hide damage, contamination, and downed electrical lines; its depth and force are difficult to judge. FEMA’s 2025 flood information sheet warns that just one foot of moving water can sweep a vehicle away. If trapped inside a building, move to the highest level, but do not enter a closed attic where rising water could trap you. Avoid electrical equipment if it is wet or you are standing in water. Return only when officials say it is safe.
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- [Comprehensive Emergency Supply Kit]: The included emergency supplies are stored in a bright red pouch, containing tweezers, scissors and pins, non-woven pad, triangular cotton cloth, cotton swabs, cotton balls, a generous supply of adhesive strips etc., meeting your general emergency and outdoor needs. It also includes an emergency information card to record your basic information, helping others quickly access important information when needed.
- [Safety Companion for Journey]: Our emergency kit includes many survival gear and supplies to ensure access to food, water, warmth, and light in a crisis. The fishing kit and multi-usage spoon help you catch and prepare food, while the collapsible water container bag helps store water. Fire starter and stick make it easy to build a fire. A flashlight, camping lamp, and glow sticks provide up to 72 hours of lighting, crucial for signaling for help and safe navigation.
- [Essential Survival Gear]: Additionally, this survival kit includes a detachable multifunctional axe with hammer and a 2-in-1 shovel with pick, made of sturdy carbon steel. Combined with wire saw, emergency tent and blanket, rope, and compass, you can quickly set up an emergency shelter while helping retain warmth. Unlike other mini axes, our axe and shovel are 17 inches long, providing effective protection in the wild against animals or in other emergencies.
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4. Prepare for several days without power
Build supplies around the needs of your household and local emergency guidance. Store several days of water and nonperishable food, prescription and other essential medicines, first-aid supplies, hygiene items, flashlights or lanterns, spare batteries, and ways to charge phones. Add infant, pet, and other specialized supplies as needed. A portable power bank can help keep a phone charged, but it is not a substitute for a rated backup system for medical equipment.
Before an outage, list what stops working when electricity fails: medical devices, mobility or communication equipment, refrigerators, heating or cooling, elevators, and phone chargers. If anyone relies on powered medical equipment or refrigerated medication, ask the clinician, pharmacist, or utility about backup power, storage, and a relocation plan. Make a separate plan for drinking water advisories, safe indoor temperatures, transportation, and access to a powered location.
Keep important papers in a waterproof container and maintain password-protected digital copies. Useful records may include identification, insurance documents, medication information, and emergency contacts. Move valuables and critical utilities above likely flood levels when feasible. Depending on the property and flood pathways, FEMA also identifies measures such as clearing drains, installing check valves, and using a battery-backed sump pump; no single measure fits every home.
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- 72-HOUR EMERGENCY KIT FOR 2: Built for disaster preparedness at home, work or on the road, this 2-person survival backpack includes food, water, first aid, lighting, hygiene and shelter essentials for up to 3 days.
- FOOD, WATER & PURIFICATION: Includes two 2,400-calorie emergency food bars, six 4.225 oz water pouches, water purification tablets and a 32 oz BPA-free bottle to help support hydration and nutrition during outages or evacuations.
- FIRST AID & PERSONAL PROTECTION: Packed with a 33-piece first aid kit, 2 N95 dust masks, nitrile gloves, hygiene kits, ponchos, survival blankets and tissues for added protection, sanitation and comfort during emergencies.
- POWER, LIGHTING & COMMUNICATION: Includes a hand-crank emergency power station with flashlight, AM/FM radio, siren and cell phone charging, plus 2 emergency lightsticks and a 3-in-1 whistle, compass and thermometer.
- DELUXE SURVIVAL TOOLS IN ONE BACKPACK: Adds a multi-function tool, duct tape, bio-hazard bag and emergency contact card in a portable backpack. Ideal for earthquakes, hurricanes, blackouts, wildfire evacuation, cars and workplaces.
5. Use safer practices during a power outage
Protect food and medicines
Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed. FEMA’s 2024 outage information sheet estimates that a refrigerator keeps food cold for about four hours and a full freezer for about 48 hours when doors remain closed. Use thermometers in both appliances. Discard refrigerated food exposed to 40°F or higher for more than four hours, as FEMA advises; when in doubt, throw it out. Do not treat cold outdoor weather as a safe substitute for refrigeration.
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Use battery-powered flashlights or lanterns rather than candles. Never run a generator, camp stove, or charcoal grill indoors, in a garage, or near an opening into the building. FEMA says fuel-burning equipment should be outdoors at least 20 feet from windows, doors, garages, and other building openings. Never use a gas stove, oven, grill, or dryer to heat the home.
Use battery-backup smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. CDC also advises having a battery-powered or backup CO detector when using a generator. Follow the manufacturer’s directions for generator placement and operation.
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- POWER, LIGHTING & SURVIVAL TOOLS: Hand-crank emergency power station combines flashlight, AM/FM radio, siren and cell phone charging, while a multi-function tool, duct tape and emergency lightsticks add practical support for blackouts and evacuations.
- BUILT FOR HOME, WORK & EVACUATION: Grab-and-go 4-person emergency backpack is ideal for earthquake kits, hurricane supplies, wildfire evacuation, blackout preparedness, offices, vehicles and family disaster planning when critical supplies must move fast.
Choose whether to stay home or relocate
Relocate to a pre-identified safe place if the home becomes too hot or cold, medical equipment cannot be supported, or essential needs cannot be met there—provided travel is safe. Consider transportation, medication refrigeration, device charging, and whether the destination has reliable power. Follow local water advisories and emergency instructions.
6. Review and practice the plan
Revisit the plan when household needs, phone numbers, schools, workplaces, pets, or local conditions change. Confirm that everyone knows how to receive alerts, where to meet, what to take, and which route to use. Check that supplies are usable and medicines are not expired, and recharge power banks and other backup devices according to their instructions. Keep the paper plan and key documents accessible without electricity or internet.
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Official guidance
- FEMA/Ready.gov flood guidance
- FEMA power-outage information sheet, August 2024
- CDC generator safety guidance
- FEMA emergency kit guidance
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