In the event of an emergency, you may need to leave immediately – and you will need some basic supplies. Be ready to go by having an Emergency Preparedness Kit in an easy-to-access place in your home. Emergency preparedness is a shared responsibility. All residents are encouraged to be prepared for at least the first 72 hours of an emergency, while emergency workers focus on those in urgent need. 

Building an Emergency Preparedness Kit is easy and ensures you have all the things you and your family would need if evacuated.

You may have some of the items already, such as food, water and a battery-operated or wind-up flashlight. The key is to make sure they are organized and easy to find. Would you be able to find your flashlight in the dark? Make sure your Emergency Preparedness Kit is easy to carry and everyone in the household knows where it is. Keep it in a backpack, duffle bag or suitcase with wheels, in an easy-to-reach, accessible place, such as your front hall closet.

If you have many people in your household, your emergency kit could get heavy. It’s a good idea to separate some of these supplies in backpacks. That way, your kit will be more portable and each person can personalize his or her own grab-and-go emergency kit.

It is also important to consider the important documents you and your family members have – documents you would not want to leave behind should you get evacuated, like driver’s license, passports, marriage license, insurance papers, etc. Photocopy these documents or save them on a USB stick and keep them with your kit, so that if evacuated you can grab one bag/suitcase/backpack and go – knowing that everything your family needs is already packed.

How to Build a Kit? Learn how to build an Emergency Preparedness Kit here

Download an easy-to-follow Emergency Preparedness checklist of what supplies you need.

Here’s a short video illustrating how to prepare a Family Emergency Kit