Daily situational awareness checklist
Morning/evening routine for weather, outages, smoke, and travel context.
Open guideEmergency Preparedness Guide
A concise emergency preparedness checklist and emergency preparedness guide for plans, kits, maps, communication, and live situational awareness.
HazardNow supports situational awareness and preparedness. Always follow official alerts, evacuation orders, and instructions from local emergency management and public safety agencies.
Preparedness Guides
Open these plain-English guides, then confirm current conditions in the live dashboard and official local alerts.
Evacuation trigger checklist
Early-departure triggers when risk increases or routes may degrade.
Open guidePower outage food safety
Food safety and medication checks during outages.
Open guideGenerator safety + carbon monoxide
High-priority generator placement and CO safety reminders.
Open guideWildfire smoke home readiness
AQI and PM2.5 actions with cleaner-air room setup.
Open guideEmergency fuel planning
Fuel thresholds and rotation without panic buying.
Open guideShareable field guides
Preparedness Infographics
Save and share these printable guides: go bag checklist, home emergency kit, family emergency communication plan, emergency maps, and shelter in place vs evacuate.
HazardNow Preparedness Series
Go Bag
72-Hour Go Bag Checklist
Build a practical go bag for 24–72 hours with essentials for food, water, power, documents, first aid, and household-specific needs.
HazardNow Preparedness Series
Decision Guide
Shelter-in-Place vs. Evacuate
A simple visual decision guide for when sheltering may make sense, when evacuation may make sense, and why official orders come first.
HazardNow Preparedness Series
Home Kit
Home Emergency Kit Checklist
A practical home emergency kit checklist for water, food, power, sanitation, first aid, documents, and safe home readiness.
HazardNow Preparedness Series
Communication
Family Emergency Communication Plan
A visual guide to out-of-area contacts, group text planning, meeting places, backup charging, and what to do when networks are overloaded.
HazardNow Preparedness Series
Maps
Emergency Maps You Should Have
A guide to the paper, offline, evacuation, and local hazard maps worth keeping before roads, batteries, or connectivity become the issue.
Before an Emergency
- 01Know likely local hazards and season-specific risks.
- 02Sign up for local emergency alerts and warnings.
- 03Pick two meeting places: nearby and out of area.
- 04Choose an out-of-area contact for family check-ins.
- 05Save copies of key documents and insurance info.
- 06Plan for pets, medications, mobility needs, children, and older adults.
- 07Keep vehicles ready during elevated-risk periods.
- 08Review and rehearse your plan at least twice per year.
Maps
Emergency maps reduce dependence on power, data, or cell coverage when routes and conditions change quickly.
- Paper street and regional maps
- Offline phone maps
- Evacuation routes
- Local hazard maps
- Mark shelters, hospitals, fuel, family locations, and bottlenecks
Related printable guide:Emergency Maps You Should Have
Communication
A family emergency communication plan prevents confusion when calls fail or household members are separated.
- Step 1Household
- Step 2Out-of-area contact
- Step 3Group text
- Step 4Backup power/radio
- Choose one out-of-area contact
- Create a group text plan
- Keep printed contact cards
- Define check-in windows
- Keep backup charging and radio options
Related printable guide:Family Emergency Communication Plan
Kits to Build Before an Emergency
Go Bag Portable
- • Portable 24–72 hour essentials
- • Water, food, meds, documents, power
- • Keep it light and ready to grab
Related printable guide:72-Hour Go Bag Checklist
Home Kit Shelter-at-home
- • Shelter-at-home supplies
- • Water, food, light, sanitation, backup power
- • Plan for multi-day disruptions
Related printable guide:Home Emergency Kit Checklist
Car Kit Vehicle
- • Vehicle supplies for waiting or evacuation
- • Seasonal items, chargers, water, first aid
- • Support detours, closures, and delays
Related printable guide:Maps + routes guidance
First Aid Medical basics
- • Wound care and daily medications
- • Medical info cards for household members
- • Training matters: CPR/AED/basic first aid
Related printable guide:Home Emergency Kit Checklist
Biological / Public-Health Readiness
Public-health surveillance can help you notice broader respiratory-illness signals, but it is not diagnosis, treatment guidance, or medical advice.
- Monitor CDC plus local and state health departments
- Keep basic illness supplies, thermometers, and test supplies current
- Have masks or respiratory protection available where appropriate
- Plan around vulnerable household members and caregivers
- Keep prescriptions and health supplies refilled before disruptions
- Use clinicians and official health agencies for medical decisions
Shelter-in-Place vs. Evacuate
Shelter may make sense when…
- • Officials direct people indoors.
- • Travel conditions are temporarily more dangerous.
- • Roads are blocked and no evacuation order is active.
Evacuate may make sense when…
- • Officials issue an evacuation order.
- • Fire, flood, or surge risk is increasing nearby.
- • Leaving now is safer than waiting for congestion.
Official evacuation orders override generic preparedness guidance.
Related printable guide:Shelter-in-Place vs. Evacuate
Preparedness is the plan. HazardNow is the live scan.
Use this emergency preparedness guide to plan ahead, then use the situational awareness dashboard to monitor live conditions and broader context.
Related explainers
HazardNow Learn
Related explainers
Situational awarenessLearn what situational awareness means in plain language and how to scan public signals calmly.5-minute checkA calm, practical scan routine for weather, outages, smoke, travel, fuel, communications, and official alerts.Emergency alertsUnderstand official emergency alerts, why they matter, and how to use HazardNow without replacing official instructions.IPAWS alertsLearn how FEMA IPAWS supports public emergency alerts and how HazardNow treats alerts as official-source context.
FAQ
1. What should be in an emergency preparedness kit?
Include water, food, light, communications backup, first aid, medications, documents, sanitation supplies, and household-specific items. Keep both a go bag and a home kit.
2. How much water should I store for an emergency?
Use at least one gallon per person per day. Keep three days minimum and build toward up to two weeks at home where practical.
3. What is the difference between a go bag and a home emergency kit?
A go bag supports 24–72 hours on the move. A home kit supports sheltering in place for longer disruptions.
4. Should I shelter in place or evacuate?
Follow official instructions first. Shelter when directed indoors or travel is unsafe; evacuate when ordered or home safety is degrading.
5. What maps should I have for an emergency?
Keep local street maps, regional road maps, evacuation routes, offline phone maps, and locally relevant hazard maps.
6. How should families communicate during an emergency?
Set an out-of-area contact, check-in windows, short SMS habits, and backup charging/radio options before an incident.