Your First 72-Hour Home Emergency Checklist
The minimum most households need for the first three days.
A focused, achievable checklist for the first 72 hours at home during a disruption.
Why 72 hours
Most disasters disrupt normal services for one to three days. The first 72 hours are when households are most on their own — before outside help, supply chains, and utilities fully recover. A 72-hour plan covers the realistic middle of most disruptions without overbuilding. Ready.gov and FEMA recommend a minimum of three days of supplies per person.
This checklist is the floor, not the ceiling. Once you have it, extend to a week, then two. But start here: a complete 72-hour kit you can find and use is worth more than an ambitious plan you never finish.
Water
One gallon per person per day — half for drinking, half for food and sanitation. Store at least three days for each person and pet. That's the baseline most agencies recommend for mild conditions; heat and exertion increase needs.
Use food-grade containers and label each with a date. Store away from direct sunlight and heat. Rotate every six months. If you store tap water, the CDC recommends replacing it every six months to keep it tasting fresh and to prevent contamination from a container that's developed a leak.
Food
Shelf-stable meals you already eat; no cooking required if possible. Canned proteins, nut butters, crackers, dried fruit, and granola bars are good starters. Avoid anything that needs refrigeration or long cooking.
Manual can opener. An electric opener is useless in an outage. A simple manual one costs a few dollars and is the single most overlooked item in a 72-hour kit.
Light and power
Flashlight or headlamp where you sleep. A light you can find in the dark is the light you'll actually use. Keep one on each nightstand.
Spare batteries; a small power bank for a phone. A charged power bank can keep a phone alive for a day or two of occasional use, which is usually enough to stay informed and check in with family.
Communication
A battery or hand-crank weather radio. This is the most reliable way to receive official alerts when power and cell service are down. A model with SAME (Specific Area Message Encoding) can alert only for your county.
A printed contact card with at least two numbers. Phones die. A wallet-sized printed contact card survives a dead battery and works when the network is congested.
Health and documents
First-aid kit plus a 7-day backup of essential medications (with your clinician's guidance). Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about building a small backup of medications you take regularly — do not improvise dosing or storage.
Copies of IDs and insurance in a waterproof bag. Documents are often the most expensive thing to replace after a disaster. A waterproof bag with copies of your driver's license, insurance cards, and a list of medications costs almost nothing and saves hours of recovery work.
72-hour home checklist
- 1 gallon water/person/day × 3 days
- Shelf-stable food for 3 days
- Manual can opener
- Flashlight + batteries
- Power bank + charge cable
- Weather radio (battery/hand-crank)
- Printed contact card
- First-aid kit
- 7-day medication backup
- ID/insurance copies, waterproofed
Sources & further reading
This guide is planning guidance, not emergency advice. In an emergency, call 911. See a mistake? Report it.
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