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The checklists

Three lists that build on each other. Finish the first before you start the second. Most households are far better off with a complete 72-hour list than half of a three-month one.

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All three lists on paper, with boxes to tick. Paper works when the phone does not.

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List 1: the first 72 hours

Enough to get everyone through three days at home with no power, no heat and no shops.

Water and food

  • Water: 12 litres (3 US gallons) per person, plus pets
  • Three days of food that needs no cooking and no fridge
  • Manual can opener
  • Baby formula, special-diet food and pet food if needed

Warmth

  • A warm sleeping bag or heavy blankets for each person
  • Hat, mitts, wool socks and warm layers for each person
  • A room chosen to live in, and a way to close it off

Light, news and power

  • A headlamp or flashlight for each person
  • An LED lantern
  • Spare batteries in the right sizes
  • Battery or crank radio with the weather band
  • A charged power bank and phone cables

Safety and health

  • Battery-powered carbon monoxide alarm near the bedrooms
  • Working smoke alarms and a fire extinguisher
  • First aid kit
  • One week of every prescription medicine
  • Toilet paper, hand sanitizer, garbage bags, wipes

Paper and plans

  • Phone numbers written on paper, including one contact outside your region
  • Some cash in small bills
  • Car fuel tank at least half full
  • Everyone knows where the main water shutoff is
  • Two places you could go, and how you would get there

List 2: two weeks

Everything on List 1, plus what it takes to stay put while services are being restored.

Water and food

  • Water: 56 litres (15 US gallons) per person, plus pets
  • A water filter, and purification tablets as a backup
  • Two weeks of shelf food your household actually eats
  • Paper plates, cups and cutlery to save washing water
  • A fridge and freezer thermometer

Warmth

  • Sleeping bags rated for well below freezing
  • Mats or pads to sleep on, off the cold floor
  • Plastic sheeting, tape and blankets to cover windows and doors
  • A room thermometer
  • If you use a backup heater: fuel for it, and its manual read

Power

  • A power station sized for what you must run
  • A way to recharge it: car cable, generator or solar
  • If you own a generator: fuel stored safely, a long outdoor cord, a spot 6 metres (20 feet) from the house

Health and sanitation

  • Two weeks of every medicine, and a plan for anything refrigerated
  • A one-page care summary for anyone with medical needs
  • Backup power or a fallback for every medical device
  • An emergency toilet: bucket, seat, bags, absorbent
  • A handwashing setup with its own water and soap
  • Menstrual products, diapers and other personal supplies

Home

  • You know how to shut off and drain your water system, from a plumber
  • Plumbing antifreeze for drains and traps
  • Snow shovel, ice melt and a way to keep the exit clear
  • Books, cards and games. Two weeks is a long time.

List 3: three months

This is the black sky case. Few households will store three months of everything, and that is not the goal. The goal is to know how you would get through it.

Supplies

  • A way to collect and treat water for the long run, not only stored water
  • Long-shelf-life food to stretch what the cupboard holds
  • A dependable heat source that needs no electricity, professionally installed, with a season of fuel
  • A way to cook outdoors, with fuel
  • Multivitamins, extra first aid supplies, spare glasses
  • Three months of essential medicines, if your doctor and pharmacist can arrange it

Plans

  • A place to go outside the affected region, agreed with the people who live there
  • The point at which you would leave, written down
  • A route, a backup route and enough fuel to get there
  • Copies of ID, insurance, prescriptions and property papers in a waterproof bag
  • A plan for work, school and bills if banks and the internet are down

People

  • You know your neighbours by name, and who may need help
  • A small, specific arrangement with at least one of them, such as a daily check
  • Skills practised at least once: lighting your stove, filtering water, running your backup power
  • The whole household has talked through the plan

From blackskyprep.com. General preparedness information, not professional advice. In an emergency, call your local emergency number. Full guides for every item on these lists are free on the site.

Sources

Official guidance this page was checked against. If your local authority says something different, follow them.