• Water – three gallons for each person who would use the kit and an additional four gallons per person or pet for use if you are confined to your home
• Food – a three-day supply in the kit and at least an additional four-day supply per person or pet for use at home
• You may want to consider stocking a two-week supply of food and water in your home.
• Items for infants – including formula, diapers, bottles, pacifiers, powdered milk and medications not requiring refrigeration
• Items for seniors, disabled persons or anyone with serious allergies – including special foods, denture items, extra eyeglasses, hearing aid batteries, prescription and non-prescription medications that are regularly used, inhalers and other essential equipment.
• Kitchen accessories – a manual can opener; mess kits or disposable cups, plates and utensils; utility knife; sugar and salt; aluminum foil and plastic wrap; re-sealable plastic bags
• A portable, battery-powered radio or television and extra, fresh batteries
Several flashlights and extra, fresh batteries
• A first aid kit
• One complete change of clothing and footwear for each person – including sturdy work shoes or boots, raingear and other items adjusted for the season, such as hats and gloves, thermal underwear, sunglasses, dust masks
• Blankets or a sleeping bag for each person
• Sanitation and hygiene items – shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, comb and brush, lip balm, sunscreen, contact lenses and supplies and any medications regularly used, toilet paper, towelettes, soap, hand sanitizer, liquid detergent, feminine supplies, plastic garbage bags (heavy-duty) and ties (for personal sanitation uses), medium-sized plastic bucket with tight lid, disinfectant, household chlorine bleach
• Other essential items – paper, pencil, needles, thread, small A-B-C-type fire extinguisher, medicine dropper, whistle, emergency preparedness manual
• Entertainment – including games and books, favorite dolls and stuffed animals for small children
• A map of the area marked with places you could go and their telephone numbers
• An extra set of keys and ids – including keys for cars and any properties owned and copies of driver’s licenses, passports and work identification badges
• Cash and coins and copies of credit cards
• Copies of medical prescriptions
• Matches in a waterproof container
• A small tent, compass and shovel

Pack the items in easy-to-carry containers, label the containers clearly and store them where they would be easily accessible. Duffle bags, backpacks, and covered trash receptacles are good candidates for containers. In a disaster situation, you may need access to your disaster supplies kit quickly – whether you are sheltering at home or evacuating. Following a disaster, having the right supplies can help your household endure home confinement or evacuation.

Make sure the needs of everyone who would use the kit are covered, including infants, seniors and pets. It’s good to involve whoever is going to use the kit, including children, in assembling it.

Note: These instructions are not for treating water to be stored, only for emergencies when no other water is available.

Untreated water can make you very sick. Besides having a bad odor and taste, it can contain toxic chemicals, heavy metals and germs that cause such diseases as dysentery, typhoid and hepatitis. Before drinking outdoor water, using it in food preparation or for hygiene, make it safer to use by

• Straining it. Pour the water through paper towels, a clean cloth, or a coffee filter to remove any suspended particles.
• Boiling it. In a large pot or kettle, bring water to a rolling boil for 1 full minute. Cool it and pour it back and forth between two clean containers to improve its taste before drinking it.
• Chlorinating it. Using household liquid bleach that contains 5.25 to 6.0 percent sodium hypochlorite (listed on the label) as its only active ingredient, add 16 drops (1/8 teaspoon) per gallon to water in a large pot or kettle. Stir and let stand for 30 minutes. If the water does not have a slight bleach odor, repeat the dosage and let stand another 15 minutes. If it still does not smell of chlorine, find another source of water and start over.
• Distilling it. Fill a pot halfway with water. Tie a cup to the handle on the pot’s lid so that the cup will hang right-side-up inside the pot when the lid is upside-down without dangling into the water. Boil the water for 20 minutes. The water that drips from the lid into the cup is distilled.

None of these methods is perfect. The best solution is to use all of them. Boiling and chlorination will kill most microbes but will not remove other contaminants, such as heavy metals, salts and most other chemicals. Distillation will kill or remove most of any remaining contaminates.