Southeast & Gulf Coast · 10 days · 4 people

Drinking, cooking, and basic hygiene. Rotate every 6 months.

Treats rain, pool, or creek water. Your main source past 30 days.

Counts toward your stored-gallon total.

Stackable jugs for tight spaces. Counts toward your gallon total.

Light and packable. Backup to the main filter.

Chemical backup for when filters clog or freeze.

8 drops per gallon of clear water. Replace yearly.

For hauling water from distribution points. Light when empty.

Fills in your tub before a forecast storm. 100 clean gallons.

Your water heater holds 40 to 50 clean gallons. Stage the hose.

Canned, dry, and ready-to-eat food you already eat.

Keep one in the kitchen and one in the kit.

For heavy heat, hard work, or illness. Mix into clean water.

Guarantees protein. Rotate through the pantry.

Dense calories with no cooking.

Buckets and pouches with a 25-year shelf life.

Coffee, chocolate, and snacks.

Caffeine withdrawal shows up in the first stressful week.

Wound care beyond band-aids. Check contents yearly.

Pain, allergy, stomach, and cold basics.

Protects against smoke, dust, and illness.

Tourniquet, packing gauze, and chest seal for serious bleeding.

Paper works when phones don't.

Basic vitals at home when care isn't reachable.

Rehydration for stomach illness.

Mosquito protection after storms.

A lost filling gets unbearable fast.

Closes cuts that would need stitches.

Wound washing and eye flushing.

For burns from camp cooking and open flame.

For long days working outside.

Thyroid protection in a nuclear-plant emergency. Only works if on hand.

Standardize on AA where you can, then stock deep.

Keeps phones alive for the first three days. Top off every few months.

Catches what you can't see or smell. Test monthly.

Quiet and safe indoors. Recharges phones, radios, and medical gear.

Runs the fridge, freezer, and more. Needs fuel and an outdoor setup.

Safety warning: Run it outside only, at least 20 feet from windows and doors. Never in a garage, even with the door open. Pair it with a battery CO alarm.

Fuel for the generator you own. Stabilizer keeps gas about a year.

Safety warning: Store fuel outside your living space in approved containers, away from heat and flame.

The generator stays outside. Cords bring power in.

Proper cans and a use-and-replace habit.

Safety warning: Store gasoline in approved cans outside your living space. Never in the house, never near a flame.

Extends stored gasoline to about a year.

Runs small devices off your car outlet.

Safety warning: Never run the car in a garage for power or heat. Exhaust can kill in minutes. Outdoors only.

Shows which stored batteries still work.

Hands-free light. One per person.

Fills a room with light. Safer than flame.

Charge in the socket on grid power. They run for hours when it fails.

Spares for the drawer, the car, and the kit.

Last-resort light. Use LED lights first.

Safety warning: Open flame. Never leave a burning candle alone. Keep flames away from kids and anything that burns.

Grid-free outdoor light and a burglary deterrent.

Official broadcasts with no batteries. Crank it.

Three blasts means distress.

An out-of-state contact is the family switchboard. Kids carry a card.

Family contact when cell towers are down.

Evacuation routes without GPS. Mark yours now.

Satellite messages and SOS when networks are down.

Rescue signaling. LED beacons never expire.

On-foot navigation. Practice first.

Roof patches, shade, shelter, and rain catch.

Seals a room against smoke or chemicals.

Cheap insurance in every kit and glovebox.

Backup shelter for a damaged house.

Move air and cool the body when the AC is off.

Insulation under you matters most.

Keeps rooms cooler with no power.

Sewage can stop with the grid. This covers it.

Keeps the bucket toilet clean and odor-free.

Stock a deep reserve.

Waste, ponchos, ground cover, and window patches.

Clean hands prevent illness.

Waterless bathing for everyone.

For waste handling, first aid, and cleanup.

Two burners for real cooking. Outdoors or ventilated only.

Safety warning: Cook outdoors or with strong ventilation only. Never inside a closed room or a tent.

About one canister per two days of cooking.

Safety warning: Use the stove outdoors. Store canisters away from heat and flame.

Three separate ways to make fire.

Compact burner for a balcony or open window.

Safety warning: Use it with a window open and never leave it burning unattended.

Every dish you don't wash saves drinking water.

Keeps fridge contents 2 to 3 more days. Freeze water jugs ahead.

The backup stove millions already own.

Safety warning: Never burn charcoal indoors or in a garage, not even once. Charcoal makes deadly carbon monoxide fast.

Cooking vessel, food wrap, reflector, window cover.

Fire risk rises when the fire department is busiest.

Fresh batteries, tested monthly.

Pliers, blades, and drivers in your pocket.

Protects hands from debris.

Fixes almost anything for a while.

Opens jammed doors and moves debris.

Clears downed trees before help arrives.

Pre-cut and labeled before the storm.

Holds back rising water at doors and low spots.

Digging, cutting, and clearing.

One per vehicle. Jump starter, tire plugs, compressor.

A free habit that beats any gas can.

Eye protection for cleanup.

Opens tamper-resistant spigots on commercial buildings.

Generator noise and chainsaw work take hearing fast.

IDs, insurance, deeds, and medical records in one waterproof folder.

Card readers die with the grid. Small bills only.

Rally points, contacts, and shutoffs, written down for everyone.

Documents and photos, scanned and password-protected.

Ten minutes of phone video proves an insurance claim.

Standard policies exclude flood. Review yearly.

Protects the document folder from fire and flood.

Staged spares.

Cards, games, and puzzles need no power.

Reinforces the frame, which fails before the lock.

Legal almost everywhere. Practice with the trainer unit.

Secure storage for firearms, meds, cash, and documents.

Take a real course and practice.

Renter-friendly, no drilling.

Keeps watching through an outage.

Early warning at the property edge, no grid needed.

Requires training and secure storage. Know your state's laws.

Theft targets generators, fuel, and tools.

Manage generator noise, deliveries, and what you post.

One overview of household preparedness.