If the trend continues, extreme weather will occur more frequently. Here’s how experts suggest you prepare.
Extreme weather is happening more frequently across the country, as we have seen this year with Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic impact on Asheville, N.C., November’s wildfires in New York and New Jersey and this month’s fast-spreading Malibu fire. Nearly 20 percent of all Americans have had to evacuate their homes because of unexpected severe weather, according to a new study by the analytics firm YouGov.
More and more people are looking for a way to protect themselves from the next hurricane, tornado, flash flood or fire. Fortunately, there’s an affordable and easy way to be better prepared: by packing an extreme-weather go bag.
An extreme-weather go bag is an emergency kit you can keep in your home or car — some people make one for each — that’s filled with items that can quickly become invaluable during a crisis, or if you have to evacuate. A properly packed go bag will have the essentials for at least 72 hours, as recommended by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It will eliminate the panic of wondering what to bring with you, and it may end up saving your life.
“If you don’t take the time to address these questions before a disaster strikes, you’ll be hard pressed to do so in the rush of a potential crisis,” said Stephanie Fox, a spokeswoman for the American Red Cross.
So what should go into your 72-hour extreme-weather go bag?
We’ve compiled a list of some of the essentials. To make our list, we looked at the emergency kit lists published by FEMA, the American Red Cross and local agencies. We also checked out specific product recommendations cheered by Reddit users or published by Wirecutter, a product review website owned by The New York Times Company, which publishes emergency preparedness guides broken down by the type of disaster, whether a hurricane, fire or earthquake. After culling through all of those resources, we narrowed down our go-bag contents to the most essential items that are also affordable (most of our suggestions cost less than $25).
Our basic emergency kit includes durable products that can sit in the corner of a closet, or in the trunk of a car, for years. (Although experts recommend reviewing emergency go bags at least once a year to make sure everything is charged, working and not expired.)