Emergency Water & Food Safety Checklist: 14 Items
Maintain safe food and water supplies and follow public health warnings during water outages, floods, and power disruptions.
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๐ก๏ธ Prepare Before an Emergency
Notes: Save your city or county emergency management contact and follow current instructions.
Save your city or county emergency management contact and follow current instructions.
Notes: Agree on a meeting point or short check-in message; keep contact information private.
Agree on a meeting point or short check-in message; keep contact information private.
Notes: Confirm safe water, medicines, and a charged radio or phone are accessible.
Confirm safe water, medicines, and a charged radio or phone are accessible.
Notes: Ready.gov recommends at least one gallon per person per day for at least three days.
Ready.gov recommends at least one gallon per person per day for at least three days.
Notes: Consider allergies and food preparation equipment.
Consider allergies and food preparation equipment.
Notes: Rotate supplies using expiry and storage guidance.
Rotate supplies using expiry and storage guidance.
Notes: Follow health department instructions for your system.
Follow health department instructions for your system.
โ ๏ธ Respond Safely When Needed
Notes: Boiling does not make chemically contaminated water safe.
Boiling does not make chemically contaminated water safe.
Notes: Treat exposed food packaging and utensils as potentially contaminated.
Treat exposed food packaging and utensils as potentially contaminated.
Notes: Discard food that has been unsafe at room temperature.
Discard food that has been unsafe at room temperature.
Notes: Use approved methods and local public health directions.
Use approved methods and local public health directions.
๐ Recover, Maintain & Review
Notes: Follow environmental and sanitation guidance.
Follow environmental and sanitation guidance.
Notes: Use methods suitable for the suspected contamination.
Use methods suitable for the suspected contamination.
Notes: Inspect containers and update expiry dates.
Inspect containers and update expiry dates.
Complete Guide
How to Use This Checklist
Maintain safe food and water supplies and follow public health warnings during water outages, floods, and power disruptions.
Follow current alerts and instructions from local officials. Hazards, climate, geography, access requirements, and household needs can change which actions are appropriate.
Important Safety and Scope Notes
This practical checklist is an independent, English-language adaptation of the Ready.gov preparedness topic. It does not reproduce FEMA publications and is not endorsed by FEMA or any U.S. government agency.
Use this checklist to organize preparations and recovery tasks. In an active emergency, follow the latest official instructions rather than relying on a static checklist.
Related & Useful Checklists
Open a related checklist for supporting tasks and household planning.
Sources & Official Guidance
Official reference for this topic:
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