National Preparedness Month has run in September since 2004, organized by FEMA and its Ready.gov program. The timing is intentional: September 1 falls shortly before the historical peak of Atlantic hurricane season (around September 10) and well before the start of winter storm season, making it the natural window to address preparedness gaps before two of the year’s most consequential hazard seasons.
The occasion is useful when it translates to completed household action. This four-week structure is designed to turn a general awareness month into a specific, finished preparedness baseline — one household session per week, focused on a different layer of preparedness.
Week one: the household kit
The first and most fundamental layer of household preparedness is the physical supply kit: the water, food, light, information, and health supplies that make a household self-sufficient for 72 hours.
Action for this week: Assess what you have and complete what you don’t.
Walk through the standard kit categories and check honestly what’s present and in-date:
- Water: One gallon per person per day. Three days = three gallons per person. Under the bed, in a closet, or in a utility area. See water storage basics for container and shelf-life guidance.
- Food: Three days of shelf-stable, no-refrigeration-required food your household will actually eat. Include a manual can opener.
- Light: LED flashlights and headlamps (one per person), spare batteries stored outside devices, an LED lantern for room lighting.
- Information: A battery or hand-crank radio capable of receiving NOAA Weather Radio and standard AM/FM bands. This is the backup when cell networks are congested or unavailable.
- Power bank: For phones — kept charged on a calendar reminder.
- First aid kit: A commercial kit supplemented with any prescription medications (a one-week rotating supply where possible), extra glasses, and any household-specific health supplies.
- Documents: Copies of identification, insurance policies, and key medical records in a waterproof container.
- Cash: Small bills, $50–$100 minimum.
The session goal: every household member should be able to point to where the kit is and name what’s in it. A kit that nobody knows about provides almost no benefit.
If the kit is already in good shape, use Week One to check expiration dates and swap anything out of date. The annual check is as important as the initial assembly; a kit that was built two years ago may have several expired items.
Week two: the family emergency plan
A physical kit is only half of household preparedness. The other half is a set of decisions already made before any emergency — where to go, how to find each other, who picks up children, what makes you leave.
Action for this week: Write or update the family emergency plan, specifically the four decisions it must contain.
What emergencies are plausible for your location? List them: the two or three hazards that realistically threaten your area (flooding, high wind, tornadoes, winter storms, hazmat corridor proximity, wildfire interface). Your county emergency management website publishes a hazard analysis; use it.
Where would you go? Three destinations in priority: nearby (friend or relative outside the immediate hazard zone), distant (hotel or family in another region), public shelter (know how to find the current list). For each, note any constraints that apply to your household: pets, mobility, medical equipment.
How do you find each other? This requires three components: physical meeting points (one outside the home, one in the neighborhood, one outside the area), an out-of-area contact (a person not in the affected area who acts as the family switchboard — see our out-of-area contact guide), and clear assignment of who picks up each child or dependent.
What triggers departure? Set your own thresholds: “if the school closes,” “if a mandatory evacuation is ordered for Zone A,” “if indoor temperature drops below 45°F.” Decisions made in advance execute better than decisions made under stress.
Write it down. A note on the refrigerator, a printed card in every wallet, a photo in every family member’s phone. The plan that exists only in conversation doesn’t exist during the event.
Week three: the home
The third layer of preparedness is the home itself — the physical structure and its systems. This week is about inspection and the basic maintenance that changes how a home performs in an emergency.
Action for this week: A structured walk-through of the house, checking preparedness-relevant systems.
Heating system. When was the furnace last serviced? Is the filter current? Does the pilot light procedure work? Are there drafts at windows and doors?
Carbon monoxide alarms. Does every floor have one, and one outside sleeping areas? Are the batteries fresh? Is the unit within its service life (typically 5–7 years — check the manufacture date on the back)? See CO safety guidance for the full guidance.
Smoke alarms. Test each one. Replace batteries in any that chirp. Replace units older than ten years.
Roof and gutters. Visually inspect from the ground (binoculars help). Missing, lifted, or curled shingles and clogged gutters both warrant action before winter.
Pipes. Identify any pipes in uninsulated exterior walls, crawl spaces, or attics. Note what insulation they have; add foam pipe insulation where gaps exist.
Shutoff valves. Verify the main water shutoff location and that it operates. Know the gas shutoff location and verify you have the appropriate wrench.
Generator or backup power. If you have a generator, run it under load briefly to verify it starts and runs. Check the fuel supply and oil.
The outcome for this week is a short punch list: the three to five maintenance items the walk-through identified, in priority order, with a target to complete before October.
Week four: communications and drills
The final week is about making sure the plan works — not just that it exists.
Action for this week: Two light drills and a communications update.
Drill one: the exit walk. Walk every household member through the home exits — front door, back door, window exits from each bedroom. For two-story homes: practice the window-exit route (ladder if upper story). Takes fifteen minutes. The goal is that each person has physically used the exit route at least once, calmly.
Drill two: the contact text. Have each family member text the out-of-area contact right now. “Hi, just testing our emergency contact plan — confirming this number still works.” This verifies the number, refreshes everyone’s memory of who the person is, and gives the contact a heads-up about the role they’ve agreed to play. If the contact needs any briefing on how the family switchboard works, this is the moment.
Communications update:
- Update all phone numbers on the contact card if anything has changed.
- Verify school and care facility emergency contact and release procedures are current.
- Add your local emergency management agency’s alert system to your phone if you haven’t already. Most county emergency management offices have opt-in text and app alert systems separate from the federal Wireless Emergency Alert system.
The outcome for this week: every household member has done one physical practice, and the contact chain has been tested with a real communication.
After September: the maintenance habits
The four-week structure builds the foundation; two habits maintain it:
Twice-yearly kit check. Pinned to the clock changes (March and November), check expiration dates on food and batteries, rotate stock, recharge power banks, and update the plan for any household changes — new school, new phone number, new medical need, new pet.
Annual plan review. Once a year, re-ask the four plan questions. Destinations that made sense when children were at a certain school may not be current; out-of-area contacts move and change numbers; the household’s medical profile changes over time.
Four weeks of focused September work, followed by two twenty-minute checks per year, is the maintenance cost of a household that’s actually prepared.
FAQ
What does Ready.gov’s National Preparedness Month officially emphasize?
FEMA’s Ready.gov program typically organizes September around four core pillars: Build a Kit, Make a Plan, Be Informed, and Get Involved. The four-week structure above maps closely to these, with Week One covering the kit, Week Two the plan, Week Three home preparedness (an extension of “Be Informed” about your home’s vulnerabilities), and Week Four communication and drills.
How long should an emergency kit last?
The 72-hour baseline is the planning minimum for most agencies. Households in areas where resupply is slower — island communities, rural areas, regions prone to multi-day outages — should plan for a week or more. The kit should be sized to the actual self-sufficiency gap your location presents, not just the general guidance minimum.
Can children participate in preparedness planning?
Yes, and they benefit from it. Children given a specific job — knowing where the meeting point is, knowing the out-of-area contact’s name and number, knowing where the kit is and what the flashlight is for — handle emergencies better than children who were told to stay calm and follow. Age-appropriate involvement (five-year-olds know the meeting tree; ten-year-olds carry the contact card) makes the plan more resilient and the child more capable.