When creating an evacuation preparation kit for the home, you’ll want to consider the supplies you might need to last you and your family for three to seven days, minimum. Because there are emergencies that can require you to leave your home quickly, prepare your kits well in advance, and keep them available or already packed in your car so you can have them with you if you are forced to evacuate with little notice.
Tips for Building an Evacuation Preparation Kit
When you are scrambling to evacuate or get to safety, or facing the possibility of being stranded in your vehicle during stormy weather, one thing is sure: being prepared with the proper provisions can help make you a lot safer. If you want to know how to build an evacuation preparation kit for your own home, consider the following items to include, and think about what types of emergencies you might need them for.
• One gallon of water, per person, per day
• Non-perishable or canned food items, plus a non-electric can opener
• Personal hygiene items, toilet paper, and sanitary napkins
• Flashlights with lots of extra batteries
• Battery-powered or hand-crank radio
• Extra batteries of multiple sizes
• Clothing and extra blankets
• A complete first-aid kit
• Minimum $100 emergency cash and checks (credit cards may not work in a power outage)
• Physical maps of the area (Google Maps may not always work in a power outage)
• Chargers for electronics
• A whistle (to signal for help)
• Duct tape and zip-ties or rope
• Copies of important personal documents, a home inventory list, insurance policies, and other legal documents
• Bug spray
• Hand and foot warmers
• Pen and notebook to keep notes
• Baby supplies such as diapers, wipes, infant formula, food
• Pet food and 1 gallon of extra water per day for your pets
• A seven-day supply of medication for family members and pets
• Plan to bring copies of insurance cards, identification cards, passports
• Family emergency plan
If you want to know how to build an evacuation preparation kit, there’s really no wrong way of doing it. Just having one ready in case of an emergency keeps your family or household one step ahead of the rest!
In addition to the above, always make sure to pack all of the essentials, but also try to be as minimalistic as possible. Definitely keep a kit prepared at all times, and consider having two separate (yet identical) kits for multiple vehicles or locations.
Make sure you have a family evacuation plan that is outlined for all potential emergency scenarios and the steps of action that your family plans on taking are well understood. Add a copy of that plan inside your kit. That way, in the event that it has to be executed one day, you will be ready with an evacuation preparation kit, and ready to go at a moment’s notice!