Questions families ask

The FEMA minimum is 1 gallon per person per day, covering drinking and basic sanitation. A family of four therefore needs at least 4 gallons a day: 12 gallons for 3 days, 56 gallons for two weeks. In hot climates plan on more: heat can double drinking needs, and nursing mothers and small children need extra attention. Most homes can't store a whole month of water, so the practical approach is to store two to four weeks and cover the rest with collection and purification. The calculator on this page works out your household's exact figure, including the gap you'd need to collect or purify.

Start with a two-week target. After major hurricanes, power and stocked shelves commonly take one to two weeks to come back. Cover, in order: water (1 gallon per person per day, minimum), food your children already eat, any medications, diapers and wipes if you have a baby or toddler, a way to cook without power, light, and a battery or crank radio for information. Keep documents, chargers and a full tank of gas ready in case you evacuate instead. Build it in stages, 3 days first, then two weeks, rather than trying to buy everything in the week a storm is named.

For each person: 3 gallons of water, three days of food that needs no cooking or refrigeration, and any daily medications. For the household: a first aid kit, flashlights or lanterns with batteries, a battery or hand-crank radio, a phone power bank, basic hygiene supplies, diapers and wipes for babies, comfort items for children, cash in small bills, and copies of key documents. That 3-day level is Stage 1 of the calculator on this page, the FEMA baseline every longer plan is built on.

It depends on who is in the house. This site plans on 2,300 calories a day for an adult, 1,900 for a senior, 2,500 for a teenager, 1,600 for a child and 1,000 for a toddler. A household of two adults, one child and one toddler therefore needs about 7,200 calories a day: 21,600 over 3 days, or 216,000 over 30 days. Teenagers genuinely need the largest ration: a moderately active 16-year-old can need more than an adult man.

Much less than the box suggests. MRE shelf life is a storage-temperature claim: at 70°F they keep around 8 years, at 100°F under 2 years, and at 120°F about a month. An uncooled garage in a hot climate gives them one to two real years. Store MREs and freeze-dried food inside the air-conditioned part of the house, an interior closet or under beds, never the garage or attic, and rotate them every three to four years in a hot climate regardless of the printed date.

Some are, many are misleading. The industry prices by “servings,” and a serving is often 137–214 calories. A kit sold as three months can be well under what an adult eats in a day. Do one division before buying anything: total kit calories ÷ your household's daily calorie need. If the vendor won't publish total calories, that silence is the answer. (Wise Company was sued over exactly this and settled in 2020, agreeing not to make duration claims unless kits provide at least 2,000 calories a day.) Bulk staples, rice, beans, oats, beat every kit by four to ten times per calorie; kits earn their place for the first no-cook days and for very long storage.

More than the standard lists assume. Diapers and wipes in quantity (plan on roughly 8–10 diaper changes a day for a young toddler), formula if you use it, ready-to-feed is safest because powdered formula needs safe water and careful mixing, plus baby food, any medications, a change of clothes per day, and one or two comfort items. Small children also overheat faster than adults, so shade and fluid matter more for them, not less. The calculator on this page counts toddlers separately for exactly this reason.

Less than the 90-day figures suggest, because the expensive part is one-time gear, not food. For a family of four, the calculator on this page currently estimates roughly $3,800–$9,000 for a complete two-week setup and $1,900–$4,200 for essentials only, most of it the stove, water storage, radio and lighting you buy once and reuse at every longer stage. Food for two weeks is only a few hundred dollars if it's built on staples. Buying in stages (3 days, then two weeks, then a month) spreads the gear cost instead of front-loading it.

Yes, the first two stages are small. A 3-day supply for a family fits in a closet; two weeks of staples fits under beds and on closet shelves, which is also the right storage anyway (inside the cooled part of the home, off the floor). Start with water containers, staples in sealed bins, light, a radio and a power bank. Renters skip anything that needs installation and favor portable gear you'd take with you if you moved or evacuated.

Twice a year: the start and end of hurricane season works if you're in a storm state; daylight-saving weekends work anywhere. Check batteries, water containers for leaks or off smells, medication and formula expiry dates, and diaper sizes (children outgrow a stockpile). Rotate MREs every three to four years in a hot climate and dried oils and eggs within about two years, whatever the bucket claims.