One of the most important, if not the most important, element of your Personal Responsibility for Emergency Preparedness is to provide food, water, shelter and sanitation for your family or household for many days after a disastrous event.  You should EXPECT to be on your own, so taking action now to be prepared is critical.  You need to build, and maintain, a household Disaster Kit to enable you to “shelter in place” safely after a disastrous event occurs.


Your Disaster Kit will consist of food, water, first aid supplies, a battery operated radio, clothing and sanitation supplies at a minimum.
In addition you may also want other items - a deck of cards maybe - though the minimum kit should be built first.


There are literally hundreds of websites and brochures and such describing what should go into your household Disaster Kit. Links to some of these can be found below, but regardless which list you use you must keep the following things in mind:



  1. ➡ You will NOT have gas or electricity to heat your home, cook your meals or refrigerate your food

  2. ➡ You will NOT have access to your toilets (Yikes!)

  3. ➡ You will NOT have access to your phone or computers or even lights

  4. ➡ You will NOT have police, fire or paramedic services for days

  5. ➡ You will NOT be able to “wing it” - you really MUST have your Disaster Kit prepared in advance