Why local phones fail first
In most incidents the phone network does not go down so much as it fills up. Everyone in the affected area calls at once, and voice calls occupy a channel for their whole duration, so local circuits congest while the network is technically fine. Calls from inside the area to other numbers inside the area are the ones that fail hardest. Cell sites also lose commercial power and run on batteries for a limited time, so coverage can degrade over hours rather than instantly.
Three consequences follow, and they are the reason the plan is shaped the way it is. Text messages are small, they queue, and they get through congestion that defeats calls — text first, and be patient, because delivery can lag. A number outside the affected region is often reachable when local numbers are not, which is the entire reason for the out-of-area contact. And any plan whose first step is everyone calling each other is a plan that fails at exactly the moment it is needed.
Keep 911 clear. It is for life safety — fire, injury, crime in progress. Calling it to ask whether the roads are open or what is happening consumes a dispatcher that somebody else needs. Many areas run a 211 information line, and local emergency management posts on radio and its own channels. If you are somewhere with limited coverage, a text to 911 is supported in many jurisdictions but not all, so check whether yours is one.
The out-of-area contact
Pick one person, far enough away that they will not be inside the same event — a relative in another state is the usual choice. Their role is to be the switchboard. Everybody in the family messages them, they hold the picture of who has checked in and where each person is, and they relay. That way nobody in the affected area has to reach anybody else in the affected area.
Making this work takes three things people skip. Tell the contact they are the contact and agree it with them, rather than assuming. Make sure every family member can reach them without a phone — the number written on a card in each wallet and school bag, and memorised by children old enough to learn it, because a dead or lost phone takes its contact list with it. And give the contact a copy of who else is on the list, so they know when somebody is missing.
Two additions cost nothing. Put an emergency contact in each phone in the way your phone's medical or emergency ID feature supports, so it is reachable from a locked screen. And write the same information on a card that lives in the wallet, because the phone is the thing most likely to be gone.
The meeting places
Communications may fail entirely, so at least one part of the plan has to work without them. That is what the meeting places are for, and there should be two.
| Place | Used when | Choosing it |
|---|---|---|
| Immediately outside the home | A fire or an event that empties the house right now | A specific fixed object across the street or at the end of the driveway — a particular tree, a mailbox, a lamppost. Specific enough that nobody has to search, and far enough that nobody is standing where the fire service needs to work. Nobody goes back inside for any reason |
| In the neighbourhood, away from the house | The block is evacuated or the house is unreachable | A landmark a few streets away that everyone including children can find on foot — a school, a library, a shop on a corner |
| Outside the area | The whole area is evacuated or you cannot get home | A relative or friend some distance away, agreed with them in advance, plus a rough route to it that does not depend on your phone giving directions |
Decide the going-home question in advance too, because in practice it is the one that causes trouble. If an incident happens during the workday, do the adults collect children from school, and which adult goes where, and what does the other one do. Writing the default down means nobody spends the first hour trying to reach somebody to agree it.
Children, schools and other people's plans
Schools and childcare centres have their own emergency procedures, and they will not necessarily match your assumptions. Find out three specific things now rather than later: whether they shelter in place or evacuate and to where, how they will notify you and through which channel, and who is authorised to collect your child. That last one is the item that catches families out — the authorised pickup list is a form, it goes stale, and a grandparent or neighbour who is not on it will not be handed a child during an incident no matter how well the office knows them.
Teach children the parts that work without an adult present: the out-of-area number, their own full address, how to call 911 and what to say, and the meeting places. Children who are old enough to be home alone need to know what to do if a smoke alarm sounds when nobody else is there, which is leave and go to the meeting place, not investigate.
The same applies to workplaces and to any care arrangement for an older or disabled family member. Ask what their plan is rather than assuming there is one, and if somebody in the household depends on power for medical equipment, on refrigerated medication, or on mobility equipment, that requirement needs its own written contingency and is worth raising with their clinician and with the utility, which in many areas maintains a medical needs registry.
The kit, in the order it matters
Kits are the part of preparedness with a shopping list attached, which is why they get most of the attention and most of the money. The order below is roughly by consequence.
| Item | Notes |
|---|---|
| Water | Roughly one gallon per person per day, for several days, and more in heat. This is the heaviest and most-skipped item. Include pets |
| Medications | The single most commonly forgotten thing in an evacuation. Keep a current written list of everything, with doses as prescribed, plus the prescribing clinician and pharmacy, so a replacement can be arranged. Ask your pharmacist how far ahead your prescriptions can be refilled |
| Food that needs no cooking | Several days of it, plus a manual can opener. Formula, baby food and pet food where relevant |
| Light and power | Flashlights and spare batteries rather than candles, which are a fire source in a house that may already be damaged. A charged power bank, and a car charger |
| Information | A battery or hand-crank radio, because it works when the network does not. Local emergency management and NOAA weather radio are the sources |
| First aid supplies | Plus knowing how to use them — see CPR and first aid |
| Documents | Copies of identification, insurance policies, deeds or lease, medical records and the medication list, in a waterproof bag and also stored somewhere you can reach from any device |
| Cash in small bills | Card terminals and ATMs depend on power and network |
| Sanitation and warmth | Wipes, bags, sturdy shoes by the bed, and layers appropriate to the season |
| Utility shutoff tools | Know where your gas, water and electrical shutoffs are, and how they operate. Only shut off gas if you are instructed to or you smell it, because restoring it requires the utility |
Split the kit rather than building one enormous box: something in the house, something in each vehicle, and a small go bag that one person can carry. An evacuation with fifteen minutes of notice does not include time to load a chest freezer's worth of supplies.
Hazard by hazard
The two elements at the top of this page are the same everywhere. What varies is the specific hazard and therefore the specific action, and that comes from local emergency management rather than from a national page. Fire in the home is a get-out-and-stay-out event, covered in home fire safety. Earthquake and flood have opposite instincts — one keeps you in place initially and the other requires leaving early — and both are in the earthquake and flood guide. Extreme heat and extreme cold have their own guides in the heatwave guide and the cold weather guide. Sign up for your county's alert system, since that is how you find out early enough for any of this to matter.
Keeping it from going stale
A plan written once and filed is a plan that will be wrong when it is opened. Phone numbers change, children change schools, the out-of-area contact moves, batteries die and the water in the garage expires. Attach a twice-yearly review to something already on the calendar — the daylight saving changes are the conventional hook, and they are also when smoke alarm batteries get done.
The review takes twenty minutes. Confirm the out-of-area contact is still willing and still has the same number. Reprint the wallet cards. Check the school pickup authorisation list. Rotate water, food and batteries. Confirm the medication list matches what is actually being taken. And walk the meeting places physically, particularly with children, because a place named at a kitchen table and a place a seven-year-old can actually find alone are different places.
Run one drill a year, badly and quickly, and pay attention to what breaks. The failures are always small and specific — the six-year-old cannot recall the number, the go bag has last winter's shoes in it, nobody knows where the water shutoff is. Those are the details that decide how the real thing goes, and they are all fixable on a Sunday afternoon.
Questions people ask
Why an out-of-area contact instead of just calling each other?
Because local networks congest before anything else fails. Everyone in the affected area calls at once, voice calls hold a channel for their whole duration, and calls from inside the area to other numbers inside the area are the ones that fail hardest. A number outside the region is frequently reachable when local ones are not. Making one distant relative the switchboard means nobody inside the event has to reach anybody else inside the event, and text messages get through congestion that defeats calls, so text first.
What should the meeting place be?
Two of them, and one specific object rather than a general area. Immediately outside the home, pick a fixed landmark across the street or at the end of the driveway — a particular tree or mailbox — far enough back that nobody stands where the fire service needs to work, and with the rule that nobody goes back inside for anything. Then a second place outside the neighbourhood, agreed with whoever lives there, for the case where the whole area is evacuated. Walk both with your children, because a place named at the kitchen table is not the same as a place a child can find alone.
How much water should we actually store?
The commonly used planning figure is about one gallon per person per day, for several days, with more in hot conditions and extra for pets. It is the heaviest thing on any list and therefore the item most often skipped or under-bought. Store it where you can carry some of it out, rotate it at the twice-yearly review, and remember that water for washing and sanitation is on top of drinking water, which is why people run short faster than they expect.
What do I need to know about my child's school?
Three things, in advance. Whether they shelter in place or evacuate and where they go. How they will notify parents and through which channel, so you are not refreshing the wrong app. And who is authorised to collect your child — that list is a form, it goes stale, and a grandparent or neighbour who is not on it will not be handed a child during an incident regardless of how well the office knows them. Update it whenever your arrangements change.
How often does the plan need revisiting?
Twice a year, hooked to a date already on the calendar so it actually happens — the daylight saving changes work, and they are when smoke alarm batteries get replaced anyway. Twenty minutes covers it: confirm the out-of-area contact is still willing and still on that number, reprint the wallet cards, check the school pickup list, rotate water and batteries, and confirm the medication list matches what is actually being taken. Once a year, run a quick drill and fix whatever small thing breaks.