Individual and Household Preparedness Resources

You may need to survive on your own for days or weeks after a disaster. This means having your own food, water and other supplies in sufficient quantity to last for as long as two weeks.

We encourage three steps at the start:

Responders will also be impacted and it may take days or weeks to provide help. You and those immediately around you will need to help each other. We encourage you to be two weeks ready for anything.

Basic services such as electricity, gas, water, sewage treatment, internet or even your cell phones may be cut off for many days, weeks or months. You may even have to evacuate at a moment’s notice and take essentials with you. You probably will not have the opportunity to shop or search for the supplies you need.

Because of Washington’s diverse geology and increasingly extreme weather patterns, communities across the state are vulnerable to disasters. Washington has 3,000 miles of shoreline and one of the highest tsunami risks in the United States. The state has the second highest earthquake risk in the U.S. and five active volcanoes (including the second and third highest risk ones in the country). Plus, there's wildfires, storms, floods and other hazards. These will leave individuals and families isolated and having to rely on their personal preparedness efforts to survive until resources become available.

Download these resources to help you:

Receiving alerts and safety information could save your life. Be informed, make sure you are signed up for alerts. Also find out about what opportunities and resources are available in your community from your local emergency managers and officials.

Learn more at mil.wa.gov/alerts

Having plans in advance for how to communicate, evacuate and reunify with your loved ones will help lessen the stress of a disaster, reduce injury and even save lives. Consider talking to schools, workplaces, assisted living facilities and other places you frequent to know their emergency plans. Make a plan for:

How to communicate with your family members.
How to evacuate to a safe location.
Where and how to meet up with your family/loved ones if separated at the time
of an emergency.

Learn more at https://mil.wa.gov/plan

Bigfoot walks in a neighborhood with grass and homes. They say, “You can survive, if you get prepared!

Every household should have a go-bag for each family member/pet and at least two weeks worth of supplies at home. Consider the personal and special needs of each family member and pet when gathering supplies for both your go-bags and your two weeks of supplies.

Learn more at https://mil.wa.gov/kits