Your 72-hour kit, built for your household and kept up to date
Build a 72-hour emergency kit sized to your household: the Ready.gov and Red Cross checklist, gallons of water and meals worked out, reminders and weather radio setup.
A 72-hour kit in brief
- Water: one gallon per person per day, for several days, for drinking and sanitation (Ready.gov).
- How long: the American Red Cross suggests a 3-day supply if you have to leave home and a 2-week supply if you shelter at home (Red Cross).
- Food: a several-day supply of non-perishable food, and a manual can opener.
- Information: a battery-powered or hand-crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert.
- The rest: flashlight and batteries, first aid kit, medicine, documents, cash, phone chargers, and supplies for babies and pets.
What the kit builder does
It starts by asking where you want to begin:
- Build our 72-hour kit: enter the adults, children, infants and pets in your home and get the full checklist with amounts, grouped and ready to tick off and print.
- How much water and food? Gallons, bottles, cases and meals for 3 days or 2 weeks.
- Keep our kit fresh: reminders in your own calendar for water, batteries, medicine and the yearly review.
- Set up a weather radio: the seven NOAA channels and how to program your county code.
Read next
- The full 72-hour kit checklist and emergency water storage
- Food for 72 hours and kits for kids and pets
- NOAA Weather Radio, keeping your kit fresh, FAQ and sources
Independent guide. Not affiliated with FEMA, Ready.gov, the American Red Cross or any retailer.