Wildfire and smoke readiness
If wildfire or smoke affects your area, review evacuation routes, alerts, and indoor-air plans.
Review wildfire planningPrepare for the next outage
Keep water, food, light, phones, and essential devices covered.
Build a household plan around the services you cannot do without. Work out what to store, what needs backup power, and what to check before conditions worsen.
- No accountPlan data stays in your browser.
- Visible limitsCalculators show assumptions.
- Source-ledSafety claims link to agencies.
If a disruption is happening now
Use official local alerts first.
Home Resilience Hub does not issue emergency alerts.
Plan for conditions where you live
Seasonal readiness reminders
These are planning prompts, not local alerts. Follow your local emergency-management and weather services for current instructions.
Hurricane readiness
If tropical weather affects your area, review official alerts, evacuation guidance, and outage supplies.
Review hurricane planningLow and no-cost first
Start with what you already have.
Preparedness begins with decisions and practice, not a shopping cart.
- 01
Enable local alerts
Know which agency and utility will publish current instructions.
- 02
Write down contacts
Choose an out-of-area contact and keep a paper copy.
- 03
Test one fallback
Try lights, charging, stored water, or a no-cook meal before you need it.
Plan by household system
Six systems. One practical household plan.
Water
Minimums, storage, and treatment limits
Plan waterFood
Familiar meals, cooking, and rotation
Plan foodPower
Essential loads, runtime, and safe backup
Plan powerCommunications
Alerts, contacts, and offline fallback
Plan communicationsEmergency kit
Household needs, weight, and practice
Plan emergency kitHome safety
Alarms, lighting, access, and shutoffs
Plan home safetyPractical planning tools
Turn uncertainty into a short, useful plan.
Begin with your household and likely outage. Then use the detailed tools only where you need exact sizing, safety limits, or a shopping list.
Recommended starting point
Outage readiness
A focused household action list for a 72-hour or extended outage.
Water storage A drinking and cooking baseline, rough pet allowance, reserves, and container counts. Food storage A no-cook or cook-required shopping outline, volume estimate, and rotation plan. Solar power Essential-load solar, battery, inverter, and rough panel-area estimates. Generator runtime A runtime estimate based on manufacturer fuel-use figures and selected loads. Battery runtime Usable energy and runtime based on capacity, loads, reserve, and conversion loss. Emergency kit weight A category-by-category kit total compared with your own carry-tested target.
Need a plan the household can keep?
Use the private water and essential-load worksheets, then print or save a PDF.
Continue learning
Recently published and updated
Sizing Solar for an Off-Grid Cabin: Loads, Seasons, and Autonomy
Size an off-grid cabin solar system from measured seasonal loads, NLR solar data, battery autonomy, pump starting demand, site constraints, and local rules.
Home Backup Power Systems: A Practical Planning Guide
Compare battery stations, portable generators, solar-plus-storage, and standby systems by critical loads, outage duration, safe connection, and maintenance.
Emergency Communication Plan: Phone, Radio, and Paper Backups
Build a practical household communication plan for outages, evacuations, and network congestion with phone, radio, alert, power, and paper fallbacks.
Long Power Outage Planning: Two Weeks and Beyond
A practical planning guide for extended outages: water, food, power, communication, health needs, local alerts, and evacuation decisions.
Build a Home Emergency Kit That Fits Your Household
A practical way to build, store, and maintain a home emergency kit without buying a pre-made bundle you will not use.
How Much Emergency Water for a Family of 4? 12–56 Gallons
A family of four needs 12 gallons for 3 days or 56 gallons for 2 weeks before added needs. Plan container counts, weight, reserves, and refills.
How to Choose a Portable Generator for Home Backup
Choose a portable generator from critical loads, starting demand, a safe outdoor location, connection method, fuel plan, service, and the exact manual.
Long-Term Food Storage Methods: Dry Staples, Barriers, and Rotation
Package dry bulk staples for deeper food storage with suitable foods, food-contact barriers, oxygen-control cautions, labels, small batches, and a rotation plan.
Water Storage Safety: Sanitize, Label, Rotate, and Use
Follow current CDC steps to clean and sanitize emergency water containers, label and rotate self-filled water, avoid recontamination, and respond to advisories.
How to Compare Freeze-Dried Meal Brands
Compare freeze-dried emergency meals by usable portions, water and fuel demand, allergens, sodium, package dates, storage instructions, and household fit.
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How we research
See how sources, assumptions, estimates, corrections, and review dates are handled.
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