Household emergency planning guides

Spread winter readiness across a manageable calendar for home service, supplies, alerts, vehicles, outage planning, mid-season checks, and spring review.

Use spring to refresh alerts, evacuation plans, backup power, drainage, wildfire readiness, tornado sheltering, hurricane supplies, and documents.

Understand why germ-focused emergency treatment does not solve PFAS, how current EPA rules affect planning, and when to use stored water or a certified home filter.

Plan backup power for phones, a modem and router, laptops, radios, and other essential electronics using measured loads, runtime estimates, and safe fallbacks.

A practical planning guide for extended outages: water, food, power, communication, health needs, local alerts, and evacuation decisions.

Plan a rainwater collection system around local rules, intended use, roof conditions, storage, maintenance, and drinking-water safety limits.