Practical home readiness — without the panic
Simple plans for power outages, water disruptions, and short-term emergencies. Start small, stay organized, and build what makes sense for your home.
Browse by topic
Lighting, charging, runtime planning, and safe backup power basics.
How much to store, where to keep it, and how to rotate safely.
A simple kit list for staying home or leaving fast.
No-cook and minimal-cooking pantry basics and rotation planning.
Flashlights, headlamps, lanterns, and battery storage tips.
Family contact plans, radios, and simple redundancy.
Go-bags, car kits, documents, and evacuation checklists.
Basic safety, first-aid basics, and hygiene & sanitation.
Practical readiness for households with kids, pets, or seniors.
Featured guides
Fire prevention tips start with staying with active cooking and candles, keeping combustibles away from heat, replacing damaged…
Choose listed residential smoke alarms that collectively provide photoelectric and ionization detection capabilities, can alert everyone in the…
Choose carbon monoxide alarms for your home by checking local requirements and the home’s existing wiring first. Select…
Latest guides
Freeze-dried food can supplement an emergency pantry when low weight, compact storage, and extended unopened storage…
If a carbon monoxide detector is beeping with a confirmed CO warning—or you cannot confidently identify…
Use FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center to search an address and view the current effective flood…
After power returns, check the pressure indicator and alarm against their usual states, listen for the…
Create a circuit breaker map with the panel cover intact. Turn off one breaker at a…
For breast milk during a power outage, keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed first. Stage a…
For most households able to cook outdoors, a propane stove is the more adaptable emergency option…
Learn how to total running watts, account for startup demand, check voltage, and choose a portable…
Learn when gas water heaters still work in a power outage, how to tell what type…