Choose with confidence

Build a 72-hour emergency kit from the Ready.gov basic list: water, food, radio, light, first aid, documents and medications, scaled for kids, seniors and pets.

Prepare for power outages: what to do before, food safety rules for fridges and freezers, safe heating and lighting, carbon monoxide safety, and medical devices.

Store emergency water safely: 1 gallon per person per day, food-grade containers, rotation, bathtub bladders, and how to disinfect water by boiling or with bleach.

Emergency food compared: freeze-dried meals, MREs and canned and shelf-stable food by shelf life, calories, water needed, weight, storage temperature and cost.

How NOAA Weather Radio works, why SAME county coding and Public Alert certification matter, and how to choose desktop, portable and hand-crank weather radios.

Size a portable power station for outages: watt-hours vs watts, inverter losses, LiFePO4 vs NMC batteries, solar recharging and runtimes for common devices.

Stay warm safely in a winter power outage: pick one warm room, layer clothing and bedding, use rated sleeping bags and emergency blankets, and avoid carbon monoxide.