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Preparedness

Printable checklists

Last reviewed: 13 November 2026

For 4 people (2 adults and 2 children) change household

Every printable checklist in one place, worked out for your household of 4 people. Open a checklist, then use its Print button to print just that one.

Quantities, totals, and the number of blank rows follow the household picker at the top of the page, pets included.

Grab-and-go bag: per person, 3 days

This is what leaves with you when officials tell you to go. Pack one bag for each person who can carry one (4 in your household), with lighter loads for children, and keep the bags close to an exit. It is not the home stock: that is the 3-day and 14-day home stock. To check what a packed bag weighs, use the go-bag pack weight list.

In each bag

Once for the household

Sources & further reading

Home stock: 3 days and 14 days

What the household keeps at home to shelter in place. Start with 3 days, then build to 14. Tick what you already have. Totals are for your household of 4 people, from the household picker at the top of the page. Water uses the official 1 gallon per person per day planning rule from Ready.gov and the Red Cross; food uses the calorie planning figures explained on the food page.

The bag each person takes when told to leave is the grab-and-go bag list. Product links are on Suggested Products (plain, non-affiliate links).

Your household’s totals

Your household
Water for people, 3 days 12 gallons
Food, 3 days 23,400 calories
Water for people, 14 days 56 gallons
Food, 14 days 109,200 calories

Store more water in very hot weather: Ready.gov notes that needs can double.

3 days at home

14 days at home (in addition to the 3-day list)

Review your supplies when the clocks change (March and November)

Sources & further reading

On this site

Official sources and further reading

Family emergency plan

A plan is a short written agreement the household can follow when people are tired, scared, or in different places. Ready.gov asks: How will you get alerts? Where will you shelter? How will you leave, and by which route? How will you contact one another? Is the kit up to date?

Print this checklist and write in the tables. Keep one copy in the document pouch, one on the refrigerator, and a photo of it in your phones. Practice it when the clocks change in March and November, including a fire-exit walk-through with children.

For supplies, use the supply checklist on this page. For a fillable federal form, see Ready.gov’s family emergency plan. Sign up for official alerts in each county where you live, work, or have a second address.

Household plan

Field Write in
Household name
Address
Evacuation zone, if your area uses them (from your local emergency management office, with the date you checked it)
County alert system we are signed up for
NOAA weather radio location or SAME codes

People

Blank rows for 4 household members:

Name Phone Medical notes / medicines Pickup or help plan

Contacts and meeting places

Field Write in
Out-of-area contact (name, city, phone)
Local meeting place (near home)
Out-of-neighborhood meeting place
School or daycare plan and authorized adults
Workplace plan
Neighbor we will check on, and who checks on us
Pet plan and destination if we evacuate
Doctor, pharmacy, and veterinarian phones
Insurance (home, auto, flood) policy numbers and claim phones
Electric, gas, and water outage reporting

Stay or go

Field Write in
If we are told to evacuate, our first route toward
Backup route
Where we will stay (person, hotel, or shelter plan)
Who grabs which bag, the pets, and the document pouch
Utility shutoffs (location of electric main, gas, water) — only if safe

Fire: get out, stay out, call 911

Work out two ways out of every sleeping room. Keep keys to security bars or window locks where everyone can find them. Close doors behind you as you leave if you can, to slow smoke. Meet at the local meeting place. Do not go back inside.

If the way out is blocked, get everyone into a room, close the door, seal the bottom with a towel, open a window, call 911, and signal for help. If clothing catches fire: stop, drop, and roll.

See also Ready.gov: Home fires.

If you are told to shelter in place

“Shelter in place” is not the same as an ordinary stay-at-home day. If officials say the air outside may be unsafe, or you see a plume or heavy debris in the air, follow Ready.gov shelter guidance:

Listen to official radio or alerts until you are told it is safe to come out. This is a short-term measure.

For a tornado or very high wind, an interior room on the lowest floor, away from windows, is the usual guidance. For a flood, go up — but not into a closed attic.

Thunderstorms and lightning

Thunderstorms can bring strong wind, flash flooding, hail, and lightning, in most places at any time of year (Ready.gov: Thunderstorms & Lightning).

  • When thunder roars, go indoors: move into a building or a car with a roof, and pay attention to alerts and warnings.
  • Indoors during the storm, avoid electronics plugged into an outlet and avoid running water.
  • At home: trim or remove trees that could fall on the house, and consider surge protectors or a lightning protection system.
  • Afterward, watch for fallen power lines and trees and report them right away. Never drive through flooded roads.

Hail

Large hail comes with severe thunderstorms (Ready.gov: Severe Weather). If you are under a thunderstorm warning, move from outdoors into a building or a car with a roof, as in the thunderstorm steps (Ready.gov).

Review the plan when the clocks change (March and November)

It is also a good weekend to test smoke alarms. Go through the full supply checklist, then check:

If you witness a public-safety emergency

Call 911. Follow instructions from law enforcement or from an official alert. If you are in a crowded place and an attack is underway, the federal “Run, Hide, Fight” public guidance is the U.S. reference; use official sources rather than rumors, and keep away from the scene once you are out. This site is not a tactical guide.

Sources & further reading

Go-bag pack weight (one adult, 3 days)

This is a packing list for one adult 3-day go-bag, the kit described on Evacuation and go-bag. It is not the 14-day home supply. Check off what you have packed, edit any weight to match the item in your hands, and set a pack-weight limit you can actually carry. Only checked items count toward the total. Your checks, weights, and limit are saved in this browser.

Water is the one precise default: the U.S. Geological Survey uses 8.34 pounds per U.S. gallon and 1 kilogram per liter. Three liters of water therefore weigh about 6.61 pounds (105.8 ounces), not counting the bottles. Every other default weight is a typical estimate. Weigh your own gear when you can.

Backpacking guides often suggest keeping a loaded pack at or below about 20 percent of body weight. REI states that guideline clearly and notes that it does not work in every situation. It is a hiking rule of thumb, not an official emergency-management limit. Set a number that fits the person who will carry the bag.

If officials tell you to leave, leave. Do not wait to finish packing. In a house fire, do not stop for the bag.

This checklist needs JavaScript in your browser to add up pack weight and to save your checks.

Leave a little room for last-minute items such as current medicines from the fridge or a child’s backpack. Pets need their own kit; the optional pet rows are a start, and the pets page has the fuller plan. A carrier is often carried separately from the backpack.

Sources & further reading

On this site

Official sources and further reading