Your Free 72-Hour Emergency Checklist

Most emergencies are decided in the first three days, before help arrives and before the stores restock. This is the short version: print it, fill in the blanks, and tape it inside a cabinet where your whole household can find it in the dark.

Water — you have about 3 days

• Store 1 gallon per person per day, minimum 3 days (2 weeks is the sturdier goal).
• Don't forget pets: roughly 1 extra gallon a day per medium dog.
• Keep one backup way to make water safe: a rolling boil for 1 full minute kills the pathogens that make you sick.

Food — you have about 3 weeks, but comfort matters sooner

• Two weeks of the food you already eat, shelf-stable, rotated so nothing expires unused.
• A manual can opener. (The most-forgotten item on this list.)
• A way to cook without the grid: camp stove, grill, or fuel you actually have on hand.

Light, power & information

• Flashlights or headlamps + spare batteries. Skip candles if you can (fire risk).
• A power bank for phones, charged and rotated.
• A battery or hand-crank radio, so you can hear real information when the network is down.

Medical & warmth

• A real first-aid kit you know how to use (bleeding control, not just tiny bandages).
• A week of any prescription medications, plus basics: pain reliever, antihistamine, rehydration salts.
• Blankets or sleeping bags to hold heat in one small room.

Documents & the plan

• Copies of IDs, insurance, and key numbers in a sealed bag (and a photo on your phone).
• Some cash in small bills; cards don't work when the power's out.
• A written family plan: where you meet if phones fail, and who calls whom.

That's the whole core of being ready, and almost none of it is expensive. It's closer to changing the smoke-detector batteries than to doomsday prepping. It just has to be done on a calm day, before you need it.

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