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Your old eyeglasses (better than nothing!)

Copies of drug prescriptions

Always have a picture of each family member (including pets) on you, in case you need to make a “missing” poster.

Quarters (phone cards may do you no good if computer networks are down.) There aren’t many pay phones around but they may be all that’s working.

Designate one out of state contact each family member should call to say they are ok, and so you can locate each other. Make sure your children know this number.

A few things to mention:

1) You should have a good fireproof/floodproof safe (or cabinet) in your house where you can store valuables and important documents. Even if your house falls down the safe will remain intact.

2) I hate to say it but a great thing to have in an emergency is a gun. I’m not a gun person at all. I don’t own one but when I get married, have a family, and buy a home I think I will and just keep it in a secure location. In a big disaster you don’t know what might happen. People may begin looting, going crazy, whatever.

3) LazyMan asks a critical question – where do you put the kit? I guess there is no easy answer. I would probably buy multiple kits (or just make them, you can buy all of that stuff separately for around $20 instead of paying $90 for the kit/backpack). I would leave a kit in each car as well as one for each person in the house. I think you should train everyone in your family that if there is an emergency they should grab their kit as part of your evacuation plan. I can’t think of where in the house you should keep them. Should you put them all in one place that seems like a good place (e.g. by the door)? But that might be bad because if that one area of the house is obstructed than all the kits are gone. Should everyone keep their kits in their rooms? Probably not a good idea for quick access in an emergency. So I don’t know. I guess you have to make up one primary evacuation plan and whatever that is put it by that door.

4) Cash is definitely king. I would keep at least a couple of thousand dollars in $20s in a secure place. Maybe your car, maybe your emergency kit, I don’t really know.

5) After you know you have the basic neccessities like food, water and first aid for your family the next two critical things are probably a form of communication and transportation. I love the idea of the emergency radio with hand crank and cell phone charger. Who knows if cell phones will even work. I live in Manhattan and during 9/11 I couldn’t make a single call on my cellphone.

6) IDENTIFICATION. During any disaster make sure to have your ID on you.

7) The main thing I think is to have a game plan for your entire family. It should be simple in the sense that it can work under a variety of scenarios. For instance it is good to have a central contact person who is geographically far away. If you live in NYC and have a relative in the midwest, let everyone in your family know that in the event of an emergency if they are separated and can’t contact each other they should contact that relative. And that relative can coordinate a place for everyone to meet. Picking a pre-arranged spot isn’t too helpful given you will never know what areas will be reachable.

Although I lack both these items myself, a cell-phone and laptop are both useful… during Rita, the cell-phone network came back up before the landlines, and there was some internet access available to refugees.

After reading the post and comments, I can see I have some work to do.

I’d also say have an address list for relatives, etc. So many of us use electronic communications that we don’t have the physical addresses or phone numbers memorized.

And at the risk of sounding too graphic: if you or anyone in your household is within childbearing age, your emergency kit should contain emergency contraceptives. It’s scary, but catastrophic emergencies really shake the infrastructure and can result in increased crimes, including sexual ones. And you can’t expect that you’ll have quick access to medical attention. You can get this from the gyno or Planned Parenthood. Just my 0.02.

I lost my home in a tornado. I now have a pretty major emergency kit designed to accomodate a variety of emergencies.

The single most important item: a flashlight on my keychain. You’re sunk if you don’t know what is going on around you.

Also, maintaining good health is part of your emergency prep plan. Katrina was very bad news for those in poor health with limited mobility. After the tornado hit my home, my car was covered in power lines and trees, and the street was unpassable. I walked miles that night.

food/water: seasonally and activity level dependent. pack some oral rehydration salts or at the least gatorade.

shelter: seasonally dependent, but the key is protection from the elements and heat retention.

fire: purifies, heats, signals, light

signaling: self explanatory, but also should includes personal identification.

first aid: most people don’t look through their first aid kit after getting one, so they don’t know what they have or don’t have, and what they actually need. most situations only require simple dressings for cuts and scrapes and personal medications.

i’d recommend a batteryless flashlight in general, but i would recommend having a headlamp, too. cordage and tape are important. you should have fire extinguishers in your car and also in your house (and know how to use them).

Where to keep the kit?: your safe room in your house.

We keep our e-kit (MREs, water, first-aid kit, crank radios, etc) in the backyard, along with our camping gear so we can pitch a tent and boil water if we need to.