Disaster Preparedness Plan: How to Protect Your Family

Why Every Family Needs a Disaster Preparedness Plan

A disaster preparedness plan is more than a piece of paper on the refrigerator. It is a living document that tells every member of your household exactly what to do, where to go, and who to contact when a crisis hits. Without a plan, families waste precious minutes arguing about what to do, searching for supplies, or trying to reach each other on overloaded cell networks. With a plan, those minutes are replaced by calm, practiced action.

The statistics are sobering. According to the National Ready Campaign, only 39 percent of American families have developed a disaster plan. Yet FEMA estimates that being prepared can reduce the damage and loss of life from a disaster by up to 60 percent. A plan does not require expensive equipment or professional training. It requires time, conversation, and commitment from every family member.

Disaster preparedness planning also reduces the emotional toll of emergencies. Children who understand what will happen during a storm or evacuation feel more secure and recover faster from trauma. Adults who have rehearsed their response make better decisions under pressure. The peace of mind that comes from knowing you are prepared is valuable long before a disaster ever appears on the horizon.

Risk Assessment for Your Area

The first step in any disaster preparedness plan is understanding which disasters are most likely where you live. A family in coastal Louisiana faces very different risks than a family in mountainous Colorado. Your risk assessment should examine both regional natural hazards and location-specific vulnerabilities of your home and neighborhood.

Start by consulting FEMA's National Risk Index, which provides county-level data on the probability and potential impact of natural hazards including drought, earthquake, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfire, and winter storms. Your state emergency management agency website will offer additional local data. Check whether your home sits in a FEMA-designated flood zone, a wildfire interface area, or an earthquake-prone region.

Evaluate your home's specific vulnerabilities. How old is the structure? Does the roof need reinforcement? Are the windows impact-rated? Is the foundation bolted? Where are the gas and water shutoff valves? Knowing the answers to these questions before a disaster lets you prioritize home improvements and gives you a mental map of critical shutoff points when time is tight. For fire-specific risk assessment, see our home fire prevention tips guide.

Family Communication Plan

Your family communication plan is the backbone of your disaster preparedness strategy. It answers the fundamental question: how will we find each other when everything is uncertain? The plan must work even when cell networks are congested, power is out, and family members are scattered across different locations during the day.

Designate one out-of-area emergency contact. After a major disaster, local phone lines are often overwhelmed, but long-distance lines may still work. Every family member should call this single contact to report their status and location. Choose someone who lives in a different state. This person serves as the information hub who relays messages between family members who may not be able to reach each other directly.

Provide every family member with a laminated emergency contact card containing: the out-of-area contact's name and number, local emergency numbers, the addresses of both meeting places, insurance policy numbers, and the address of your nearest emergency shelter. Store digital copies in your phone, in cloud storage, and in each go-bag. For more guidance on building an emergency-ready home, see our home emergency kit guide.

Meeting Places and Contacts

Every family needs two designated meeting places. The first is a near-home meeting spot, located just outside your house or apartment building. This is where family members gather after evacuating a sudden emergency like a fire or gas leak. Choose something easily identifiable and visible from the street: a specific tree, a mailbox, a neighbor's porch, or a particular parking space. Everyone in the family must be able to reach this spot independently, including children old enough to walk alone.

The second meeting place is outside your immediate neighborhood, for events that make your home area inaccessible. This could be a relative's house, a library, a school, or a community center. Choose a location that every family member can reach on foot if driving is impossible. Write the addresses of both meeting places on the emergency contact card and practice the routes until they are second nature.

Your contact list should also include numbers for your children's school, your workplace, your insurance agent, your veterinarian (for pet emergencies), local hospitals, and the non-emergency police line. Keep a printed copy of all contacts in your go-bag, in your vehicle, and on the refrigerator. Do not rely solely on your phone's contact list because phones can break, lose charge, or be lost in a chaotic evacuation.

Evacuation Routes and Procedure

Evacuation is one of the most stressful things a family can do. Having predetermined routes and procedures removes the guesswork and lets you act immediately when authorities issue an evacuation order. Identify at least two evacuation routes from your home, because the primary route may be blocked by floodwater, fallen trees, or traffic congestion.

Map each route in detail and drive it until every family member can navigate it from memory. Identify landmarks, highway exits, and alternate paths. If you have family members with mobility challenges, plan routes that accommodate wheelchairs, walkers, or other aids. Include fuel stations along each route and establish a rule: no one lets the gas tank drop below half full during hurricane season or wildfire season.

Your evacuation procedure should specify who does what. One adult secures the house (locks doors, turns off utilities if instructed), another loads the go-bags into the vehicle, and children gather their personal items and meet at the near-home spot. Establish a time limit: the entire process from decision to departure should take under 15 minutes for a well-rehearsed family. Practice this drill at least twice a year. For a detailed packing list, consult our home evacuation checklist.

Shelter-in-Place Strategy

Not every disaster requires evacuation. Winter storms, chemical spills away from your immediate area, some flooding events, and certain power outages are situations where staying home and sheltering in place is the safest choice. Your shelter-in-place strategy should cover how to secure your home, how to manage utilities, and how to maintain your family's health and comfort during an extended stay.

Identify the safest room in your house, typically an interior room on the lowest floor with few or no windows. This room becomes your shelter during tornadoes, high winds, or chemical exposure events. Stock it with water, non-perishable food, flashlights, a weather radio, blankets, and a first aid kit. For earthquakes, practice the drop, cover, and hold-on technique under a sturdy piece of furniture.

Learn how to shut off your home's gas, water, and electricity. Label all shutoff valves clearly and keep the necessary wrench near the gas shutoff. If you smell gas after an earthquake, evacuate immediately and do not turn on any lights or electrical switches. During winter power outages, use generators outdoors only, away from windows and doors, to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. For shelter-in-place supplies, review our 72-hour kit guide.

Preparing Children for Emergencies

Children process emergencies differently than adults. They rely on routine and predictability to feel safe. A disaster shatters both. Preparing children ahead of time gives them a framework for understanding what is happening and what they should do, transforming fear into purposeful action.

Teach children three core emergency rules: get out and stay out (never go back into a burning building for any reason), stop, drop, and roll (if clothing catches fire), and drop, cover, and hold on (during earthquakes). Practice these actions as games, not fear-based lectures. Role-play fire evacuations with children using a stopwatch to make it engaging. Let them crawl under blankets to practice moving through smoke-filled rooms.

Make sure every child knows their full name, their parents' full names, their home address, and how to dial 911. Write this information on a card and keep it in each child's backpack. Teach children how to use a whistle to signal for help if they are trapped. Practice calling your out-of-area contact from a toy phone or a disconnected cell phone. The goal is to make emergency responses automatic, not something they have to figure out under pressure.

Document Protection Plan

In the aftermath of a disaster, having your documents intact can dramatically speed up recovery. Insurance claims, government assistance applications, medical care, and housing all require proof of identity, ownership, and coverage. A document protection plan ensures you can access these records regardless of what happens to your physical home.

Collect and copy the following: government-issued IDs (driver's licenses, passports, birth certificates), Social Security cards, insurance policies (homeowners, auto, health, life), medical records and prescription lists, property deeds or lease agreements, recent tax returns, bank account and credit card information, and pet vaccination records. Place originals in a fireproof, waterproof document safe in your home. Store a second set of copies in a bank safe deposit box or with your out-of-area contact.

Digitize every document. Scan or photograph each one and store the files in a secure cloud service such as Google Drive, iCloud, or Dropbox. Keep a USB flash drive with all digital copies in your go-bag. Include at least $200 in small bills in the document safe, because ATMs and card readers will not work during power outages. Update the entire collection every six months.

Practicing Your Plan

A plan that exists only on paper is not a plan; it is a wish. The only way to know whether your disaster preparedness plan works is to practice it. Regular drills expose weaknesses you did not anticipate, reveal which family members need more training, and build the muscle memory that makes emergency responses automatic.

Conduct at least two full evacuation drills per year, one during the day and one at night. Nighttime drills are critical because most fire deaths occur when people are sleeping. Time each drill and aim for every household member to reach the near-home meeting spot in under three minutes. After each drill, sit down as a family and discuss what went smoothly and what needs improvement.

Practice communication drills as well. Have every family member call the out-of-area contact and relay their status. Simulate a scenario where phones are unavailable and test alternative communication methods like walkie-talkies or predetermined signal flags. Update the plan after every drill and after any significant life change such as a new baby, a move, or a new family member with special needs. For tools that support your drills, see our home emergency kit guide.

Reviewing and Updating the Plan

A disaster preparedness plan is a living document that must evolve with your family and your environment. Setting a regular review schedule ensures your plan never becomes outdated or irrelevant. The standard recommendation from FEMA and the Red Cross is to review your plan twice per year, ideally when you change clocks for daylight saving time.

During each review, verify that all emergency contact information is current. Phone numbers change, people move, and emergency services reorganize. Check that every family member still knows the meeting places and evacuation routes. Review your supply inventory and replace expired food, water, medications, and batteries. Confirm that go-bags are complete and that every family member's bag still fits and is comfortable to carry.

Also update the plan after any major life event. A new baby requires adding infant supplies and updating meeting procedures. A divorce or separation changes emergency contacts and custody considerations. Moving to a new home means completely reassessing risks, evacuation routes, and meeting places. Keeping your plan current is the single most important thing you can do to ensure it works when you need it most.