How to Make a Household Emergency Plan
A real household emergency plan is boring, written down, and fits on one page. This is the one-evening version: six decisions, a short drill, and the supplies that back them up.
What a household emergency plan actually is
The six decisions that make up the plan
Most "emergency plans" floating around online are 20-page templates that never get filled in. This shorter version covers the same ground and actually gets finished.
- 1. Contacts. One out-of-state relative or friend as the hub, plus each household member's phone number and workplace/school number.
- 2. Meet-up points. A near point (outside the house, within walking distance) and a far point (outside the neighborhood, 10 to 30 miles away).
- 3. Shelter-in-place vs evacuate. Which scenarios call for each, who makes the call, and how the household is notified.
- 4. Pet plan. Who grabs the carrier, what goes in the go-bag, and where animals go if a shelter will not accept them.
- 5. Cash and documents. A small amount of cash on hand, copies of IDs and insurance, and where the originals live.
- 6. Sanitation and utilities. How you handle water, waste, and shutoffs if power or plumbing fails.
Step 1: write down contacts and an out-of-area hub
In a real event, local cell networks jam in the first hour. Long-distance calls and SMS often still get through. Picking one relative outside the region as the contact hub is the single most useful thing on the plan.
- Out-of-area contact: One person, at least a few states away. Everyone in the household texts them status and location.
- Household phone numbers: All adult cell phones, plus kids old enough to carry a phone.
- Work and school: Main line, emergency line, and the dismissal or pickup policy for each school.
- Neighbors: Two nearby neighbors who can check on the house or pets if you are away.
- Medical: Family doctor, preferred hospital, and pharmacy with phone numbers.
- Utilities: Power company, water, gas, and a trusted plumber/electrician for post-event repairs.
Step 2: pick two meet-up points
One point does not cover the two scenarios that matter. You need a near point for fast events and a far point for events that make your neighborhood itself unsafe.
- Near meet-up (house fire, gas leak, immediate threat): Outside the house, visible from the street, not blocked by a garage door. A specific mailbox, tree, or neighbor's driveway works. Everyone goes there first.
- Far meet-up (neighborhood evacuation, road closures): A specific address at least 10 to 30 miles away. A relative's home, a specific church, a specific large parking lot. Write down the street address, not just the name.
- How to reach each: At least two routes to the far point that do not share the same bridge or highway. Drive both routes once so they feel familiar in bad weather or at night.
- Who waits and for how long: The first person to arrive waits at least 30 minutes before moving on, and texts the out-of-area contact.
Step 3: decide shelter-in-place vs evacuate for each scenario
"Should we stay or should we go?" is the question that freezes households. The plan takes the guesswork out by answering it in advance for the scenarios your area actually faces.
- Shelter in place: Tornado warning, hazmat or chemical release, active-shooter advisory, short-term grid failure, winter storm where roads are worse than home.
- Evacuate: Wildfire in the watershed, rising floodwaters, mandatory evacuation order, prolonged utility failure with no heat in winter, structural damage to the home.
- Gray area: Hurricane approach, wildfire several counties away, extended heat wave. Default to the 12-hour rule: if evacuation is likely in the next 24 hours, start prepping to leave now (see the evacuation guide below).
- Who decides: Name one adult in the plan. A single decision-maker avoids the "we were all waiting for each other" failure.
Step 4: write a pet plan
Pet planning is the single most overlooked piece of most household plans. Many emergency shelters do not accept animals, and reuniting with a lost pet after an evacuation is painful and slow.
- Who grabs what: Assign one person per pet. Carrier, leash, and go-bag by the door, not in a closet.
- Pet go-bag: 72 hours of food, a bowl, meds, a copy of vaccination records, a photo of you with the pet (proof of ownership), and a worn item with your scent.
- Microchip and ID: Chip with current address, collar tag with at least one phone number. Update when you move.
- Where they go: Two pet-friendly hotels along your evacuation route, plus one relative who would take them. Call-ahead list on the fridge.
- If you cannot take them: Write "Pets inside, please rescue" on a window, leave a 3-day bowl of water and dry food, and tell a neighbor. Never chain or tether an animal outside during an evacuation.
Step 5: cash, documents, and digital copies
Card readers and ATMs go down before power does, and "the cloud" is not accessible when your phone is at 4%. A small amount of cash and a flash drive of documents covers most of what you will actually need.
- Cash: Enough to cover 72 hours of fuel, food, and lodging. Small bills, not a single large one. See the dedicated cash guide below for denominations and storage.
- IDs and cards: Copies of driver's licenses, passports, health insurance cards, and one credit card each in a waterproof pouch.
- Documents: Home insurance policy, car titles, birth certificates, wills, prescription list, pet records. Originals in a fireproof safe, copies (physical or on an encrypted flash drive) in the go-bag.
- Photos: A walk-through video of every room for the insurance claim. Redo it once a year.
- Passwords: A printed list for the one adult who needs account access, sealed in an envelope inside the safe.
Step 6: sanitation, utilities, and the home itself
Most plans stop at "call 911 and leave." The ones that hold up cover what happens when you are in the house without power, water, or working plumbing for a few days.
- Water shutoff: Everyone who can lift a wrench knows where the main is and which way it turns. Tag the valve.
- Gas shutoff: A wrench clipped to the meter, and every adult knows when to use it (after a significant earthquake, or if you smell gas).
- Electrical main: Labeled clearly. Know when to kill it (active flooding, downed feeder, active fire in the panel area).
- Sanitation: A plan for waste when toilets do not flush. Heavy-duty bags, pool water or a nearby stream for grey water, and a dedicated bucket if it goes past 48 hours.
- Heat: A non-electric heat source and fuel for it, plus a rule against running generators or grills indoors.
- Fire: One ABC extinguisher per floor, smoke alarms and a CO detector tested at each plan review.
Run a 10-minute drill twice a year
A plan nobody has walked through is half a plan. The drill is short, non-dramatic, and the only way to find the broken link before it matters.
- Fire scenario: Announce it, time how long it takes everyone to get out and reach the near meet-up.
- Shelter scenario: Time how long it takes to gather at the designated interior room with water, radio, and the pet carrier.
- Evacuation scenario: Load the car with bags and pets. Aim for under 10 minutes.
- Communication test: Each person sends the out-of-area contact a "practice, all OK" text.
- Review what broke: A locked door? Missing leash? Dead phone? Fix it that same evening.
Keep the written plan where people can find it
- One laminated copy on the fridge or inside a kitchen cabinet door.
- One copy in each go-bag.
- One copy in each car's glovebox.
- A phone photo of the plan on every adult's lock screen (so it is readable without unlocking).
- One copy with the out-of-area contact so they know what to do on their end.
Common mistakes
- Writing a 20-page plan nobody reads. One page is the target. Anything longer is for reference, not for the moment.
- Assigning no decision-maker. "We were going to" is the most common failure mode. One adult calls it.
- Forgetting pets, medications, or chargers. These are the three things people come back in the door for when they should be driving away.
- Not drilling. A paper plan and a practiced plan look identical on the fridge and completely different at 2 a.m.
- No out-of-area contact. Local networks jam. The hub outside the event is what actually works.
- Letting it go stale. Phones, jobs, and pets change. A plan from 2022 will be missing half its contacts today.
FAQ
How long does it actually take to write a household emergency plan?
About two hours for the first draft if the whole household sits down together. One evening covers the six core decisions (contacts, meet-ups, shelter vs evacuate, pets, cash, sanitation). A 10-minute drill a month later is what turns the paper plan into a real one.
Do I really need two meet-up points?
Yes. The near point (a neighbor, the end of the driveway, a specific tree) handles fast events like a house fire. The far point (a relative's place, a specific parking lot 10 to 30 miles away) handles events that make your neighborhood unsafe or inaccessible. One point is not enough to cover both.
What is an out-of-state contact for?
When a disaster hits a region, local phone networks jam first. Long-distance calls and texts often still get through. Everyone in the household texts the same out-of-area relative with status and location. That person becomes the central hub so family members do not have to reach each other directly.
How much should I prepare for before it starts to feel excessive?
A practical baseline is 72 hours of water, food, meds, cash, and sanitation for everyone (including pets) plus one evacuation bag per person. That handles the overwhelming majority of real-world scenarios. Anything beyond a week starts to require dedicated storage and rotation you may or may not want to commit to.
How often should we review the plan?
Twice a year is the useful cadence. Tie it to daylight-saving clock changes so it is automatic. Update contacts, swap batteries, check expiration dates, re-run the 10-minute drill. Anything that changed (a new pet, a new job, a new phone number) gets folded in during the review.
Bottom line
A household emergency plan is six decisions on one page, backed by a short drill twice a year. Contacts, meet-ups, shelter vs evacuate, pets, cash, and sanitation. Write it tonight, drill it next weekend, and review it every spring and fall. That simple routine covers almost everything a real event will throw at you.