• Divide your emergency supplies into a Household Disaster Kit to share at home when sheltering in place and personal Go-bags for individual family members in case of evacuation.
• Store your Household Disaster Kit in a place that will still be accessible if your home is damaged and unsafe to enter (e.g. heated storage shed). If this is not an option, put it in an easily accessible location inside your home. Do not allow your Disaster Kits and Go-bags to freeze.
• Store your household’s Go-bags in a location that is easily accessible in the event you must evacuate your home.
• Make sure to have a kit for winter in your vehicle too. Include hand warmers, flares, spare blanket, warm socks, cell phone, protein bars, etc.  

Household Disaster Kit

If your home is structurally sound following a disaster, your Household Disaster Kit will allow you to remain in place, even without utilities. Put contents in a watertight container that you can move easily (e.g. a large plastic tote). Duct tape it closed and date it. Mark your calendar for when to rotate water and food (every six months). Taping the kit closed helps reduce using items in non-emergencies, and insures they will be in the kit when needed. Include:

• Flashlights and battery or hand crank flash lights or lanterns (with extra batteries & bulbs)
• Food you can cook on the camp stove: canned goods, freeze dried meals, meals ready to eat (MREs)
• Water: one gallon per person per day. A family of four needs approximately 30 gallons for a week.
• Tools: work gloves, goggles, NIOSH dust mask, crowbar, hammer, staple gun, adjustable wrench, boots, extra winter clothes, duct tape, rope
• Items to protect you from the elements, (e.g. warm clothing, raincoats, sleeping bags, mats, blankets, tent and plastic tarps)
• Sanitation supplies (e.g. towels, washcloths, unscented bleach with eyedropper and heavy garbage bags)
• Cooking supplies (manual can opener, camp stove, fuel, lighter, pots, etc.)
• Plates, utensils and paper towels, aluminum foil, etc.