Every emergency preparedness expert agrees on one thing: the single highest-leverage thing a household can do is build a basic emergency kit before disaster strikes, not during. Yet most homes either have no kit at all, or one that's years out of date with expired batteries and stale food.
A solid home emergency kit covers five categories: water, food, first aid, tools and lighting, and documents. You don't need to buy everything at once — start with a 72-hour supply and expand toward two weeks over time.
Store at least one gallon per person per day, for a minimum of three days. That's three gallons per person as a starting point. Use food-grade containers and rotate the supply roughly every six months.
Choose non-perishable items that don't require cooking: canned goods, protein bars, dried fruit, and freeze-dried meals. Don't forget a manual can opener — an often-overlooked item that renders canned food useless without it.
A basic first aid kit plus a few days' supply of any prescription medications. If someone in your household depends on a specific medication, this is the single most important item to keep current.
Flashlights (hand-crank or battery, plus spare batteries), a multi-tool, duct tape, and a wrench or pliers to shut off gas and water utilities if instructed to do so by officials.
Copies of ID, insurance policies, and emergency contacts in a waterproof bag, plus a small amount of cash — ATMs and card readers may not work during an outage.
Store your kit somewhere accessible — a hall closet or garage shelf, not the back of an attic. If you might need to evacuate, keep a smaller "go-bag" version near the door.
Set a recurring reminder every six months to check expiration dates, battery charge, and clothing sizes for kids. A kit that isn't maintained gives false confidence.