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Pack a flood-and-landslide kit around several days of water and non-perishable food, reliable weather information, light, first aid, sanitation, tools, documents, medicines, and supplies for every person and pet. Store a complete kit at home and keep a smaller portable version ready to take when officials order an evacuation. The kit supports your plan; it cannot predict a landslide or replace instructions from local emergency managers.
The checklist below follows U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Ready.gov, and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) guidance. If you live outside the United States, use your local emergency-management and geological agencies for alert channels, evacuation zones, and shelter rules.
Start with the core emergency supplies
Organize the kit by function so you can inspect it quickly and replace only what has been used or expired. FEMA’s current checklist describes water and food for “several days.” An older 2023 Ready Campaign checklist used a target of one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days; because the current checklist wording is the controlling reference, check the latest FEMA list before adopting a numeric quantity.
Water and food
- Store drinking water for each household member for several days.
- Choose non-perishable foods that suit allergies, medical diets, age, and cultural preferences.
- Favor foods that can be eaten with little or no cooking if utilities are unavailable.
- Pack a manual can opener when any of your food is canned.
Keep some food and water in the portable kit rather than locking everything in a basement or garage that could flood. Rotate items as you use them at home so the emergency stock remains familiar and in date.
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Information and communication
- Include a battery-powered or hand-crank radio that receives NOAA Weather Radio tone alerts.
- Pack spare batteries that fit the radio and flashlight.
- Add a phone charging cable and a charged backup battery, then keep the battery maintained according to its instructions.
- Carry local maps. Mark primary and alternate evacuation routes, higher ground, bridges, and meeting places before an emergency.
Do not depend on a single alert method. Power, cellular service, and internet access can fail during flooding or slope movement, so the radio and a paper map provide a useful fallback.
Light and first aid
- Pack a flashlight and spare batteries.
- Include a first-aid kit suited to the household.
- Add prescription medicines, essential medical devices, mobility supplies, and other health items that a person cannot safely go without.
Keep a short written list of medications, allergies, conditions, and emergency contacts with the medical supplies. Store medicines according to their labeling; heat and floodwater can make them unusable.
Signaling and sanitation
- Carry a whistle to signal rescuers or household members.
- Pack dust masks to reduce inhalation of dust and debris.
- Include moist towelettes, garbage bags, and plastic ties for basic hygiene and waste containment.
- Add hand-cleaning supplies and any personal hygiene products your household requires.
Sanitation matters when toilets, running water, or garbage collection are disrupted. Keep these items in a sealed inner bag so a wet kit does not contaminate the rest of its contents.
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Tools and documents
- Pack a non-sparking wrench or pliers for utility shutoff tasks when authorities or utility personnel direct you to use them.
- Include copies of important documents in a waterproof, portable container.
- Consider identification, insurance information, medication lists, contact numbers, and records needed to obtain medical or housing assistance.
Do not enter a damaged building to retrieve documents. Keep the waterproof document container where it can be reached without crossing a flooded or unstable area.
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Children, older adults, disabilities, and pets
FEMA advises tailoring a kit to household needs. Add infant formula, bottles, diapers, and comfort items; hearing-aid batteries; communication aids; mobility equipment; continence supplies; or food required by an older adult or person with a disability. Plan for pets as deliberately as for people: pack food, water, medication, a leash or carrier, waste bags, and copies of vaccination or ownership records. Ready.gov and USGS both emphasize including pets in evacuation planning.
Adapt the kit for flooding
Flood readiness is as much an information and route problem as a packing problem. Identify where your household will go if an evacuation order is issued, how you will get there without using low-water crossings, and which person will collect children, older relatives, or pets. Keep your radio able to receive official alerts and follow instructions from local authorities.
Keep the kit above likely floodwater
Store the home kit on an upper level or another location that is unlikely to flood, while keeping the portable kit close to an exit. Use waterproof bags or containers inside the larger storage bin. A waterproof container protects paper records and electronics from rain and splashing, but it does not make it safe to enter rising water to recover the container.
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Ready.gov’s instruction is explicit: “Do not walk, swim or drive through flood waters. Turn Around. Don’t Drown!” Water that looks shallow can hide a washed-out road, debris, contamination, or a strong current. If officials close a road or order evacuation, use the designated route rather than improvising through water.
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Use alerts to make the go/no-go decision
When a warning arrives, take the portable kit, follow the practiced route, and account for every person and pet at the meeting point. Do not wait for water to surround the house before leaving. If you are already in a dangerous location, follow emergency personnel instructions instead of returning for additional supplies.
Adapt the kit for landslide risk
Landslides can block roads, damage utilities, and isolate a neighborhood even when a flood is not occurring. USGS recommends maintaining an emergency kit and practicing a household evacuation plan that includes pets. An area without a mapped landslide is not automatically safe because landslide-inventory mapping is incomplete.
Understand the warning limitation
USGS states: “Some landslides may provide clues that they are about to happen; others may happen suddenly without any warning signs.” A kit therefore cannot provide a reliable countdown. Keep it accessible, know more than one way out, and be prepared to leave without retrieving every item if the slope or building becomes unsafe.
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Recognize signs that deserve immediate attention
USGS lists several possible indicators of slope movement. Report suspicious changes to local authorities and leave only if doing so is safe:
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- New cracks, bulges, or other deformation in soil, yards, roads, or retaining structures.
- Unexpected flowing or ponded water on a slope, or a sudden change in a spring, well, or stream.
- Trees, utility poles, fences, or walls that begin to tilt or shift.
- New building cracks, doors or windows that stick, or other changes suggesting movement.
- Leaking, broken, or newly exposed utility lines.
- A stream that suddenly becomes muddy, rises or falls unusually, or changes course.
These signs are not a guaranteed prediction method. Do not approach a slide, cross fresh debris, or stand below an unstable slope to investigate or collect gear. Notify the appropriate local authority from a safe location.
Store a full home kit and a portable kit
One container rarely serves every situation. A home kit can hold bulkier supplies, while a smaller portable kit lets you evacuate quickly. Review both against the same household checklist.
| Format | Purpose | What belongs in it | Placement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full home kit | Supports several days when the household remains at home or shelters elsewhere nearby | Water, food, sanitation, tools, documents, medical supplies, communication equipment, and household-specific items | Accessible, protected from likely floodwater, and known to every adult |
| Portable kit | Provides essential supplies during an evacuation | A manageable amount of water and food, radio, flashlight, first aid, medicines, documents, phone power, sanitation items, and pet supplies | Near an exit but not where floodwater or slope movement could block access |
Keep a written inventory in each container. A preassembled kit can save time, but a household-assembled kit makes it easier to match prescriptions, infant supplies, accessibility equipment, food restrictions, and pet needs. Whichever format you use, compare its contents with the current FEMA checklist rather than assuming a package is complete.
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- Choose destinations. Identify a safe meeting place outside the immediate hazard area and a backup location. Confirm that the destination accepts pets if you may evacuate with animals.
- Map routes. Mark primary and alternate roads, bridges, steep slopes, low crossings, and places where your household can regroup. Keep the paper map with the portable kit.
- Assign responsibilities. Decide who collects children, older adults, people who need assistance, pets, documents, and the portable kit. Plan for a caregiver or neighbor if the usual person is away.
- Set communication rules. Choose an out-of-area contact and a way to confirm arrival if local networks are congested. Keep the radio available for official updates.
- Practice in daylight and darkness. Walk or drive the route without entering floodwater or approaching unstable slopes. Repeat until each household member can explain the route and meeting point.
- Define a no-return rule. Once officials order evacuation or a route becomes dangerous, do not go back for forgotten items. Safety takes priority over the kit.
USGS describes the goal plainly: “Have an emergency preparedness kit and evacuation plan.” Practice turns a container of supplies into a usable response.
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Maintain the kit
- After every use, replace food, water, batteries, medicines, and first-aid items.
- Inspect the radio, flashlight, charging battery, and cables on a regular household schedule; test that controls and connectors work.
- Replace documents when addresses, insurance, prescriptions, or emergency contacts change.
- Check children’s sizes, pet food, mobility supplies, and medical equipment as needs change.
- Look for leaks, corrosion, swelling batteries, damaged packaging, or mold after heat, humidity, or a near-flood.
- Keep the portable kit light enough for the person assigned to carry it, and divide weight among adults when necessary.
Store a current inventory and route map with the kit, but do not put every critical phone number only on a device that may lose power.
Common packing mistakes and safer fixes
Relying on food and water but forgetting information
Without a radio, spare batteries, maps, and a charging plan, a household may miss changing warnings or road closures. Put communication supplies in the same container as food and water.
Keeping all supplies in a basement
A basement may be convenient but can become inaccessible first during a flood. Keep the main kit above likely floodwater and a portable subset near an exit.
Assuming a landslide will provide notice
Some events show cracks or tilting, while others happen suddenly. Never delay a safe evacuation while searching for more supplies or waiting for a visible warning sign.
Forgetting household-specific needs
A generic kit may omit insulin, inhalers, hearing-aid batteries, formula, mobility equipment, or pet medication. Make a separate checklist for each person and animal, then place those items where the assigned caregiver can find them.
Using a kit as a substitute for official directions
Emergency managers may close roads, order evacuation, designate shelters, or issue instructions that change during an event. Treat the kit as support for those directions, not as permission to ignore them.
Quick packing checklist
- Several days of water and non-perishable food
- NOAA Weather Radio-capable battery or hand-crank radio and spare batteries
- Flashlight and spare batteries
- First-aid kit and household medicines or medical supplies
- Whistle and dust masks
- Moist towelettes, garbage bags, and plastic ties
- Non-sparking wrench or pliers
- Can opener for canned food
- Phone charger and backup battery
- Local paper maps
- Waterproof copies of important documents
- Infant, older-adult, disability, and accessibility supplies as needed
- Pet food, water, medication, carrier or leash, and waste supplies
Keep the list with both the full home kit and the portable kit. Pair it with a practiced route, reliable alerts, and a clear rule to stay out of floodwater and away from unsafe slopes.
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