Tornado Safety: What to Do During a Tornado (Home, Car, Mobile Home)
Knowing what to do during a tornado can reduce your risk of serious injury, and FEMA identifies interior rooms on the lowest floor as the safest shelter in most structures.
Knowing what to do during a tornado can reduce your risk of serious injury, and FEMA identifies interior rooms on the lowest floor as the safest shelter in most structures.
A properly stocked emergency kit should contain at minimum 14 core items identified by FEMA, enough to sustain each person for at least 72 hours without outside help.
FEMA recommends storing at least 1 gallon of water per person per day for emergencies, with a minimum three-day supply for evacuation and a two-week supply for home sheltering.
For a 3-day outage, EcoFlow and Bluetti offer LFP battery chemistry and faster recharge times, while Jackery provides a lighter, more affordable entry point for basic power needs.
Knowing what to do when the power goes out can prevent food spoilage, carbon monoxide poisoning, and costly mistakes during the first 72 hours of a home blackout.
The USDA says food in a closed refrigerator stays safe for up to 4 hours after power loss, after which perishables enter the danger zone and should be discarded.

A complete power outage survival kit covers at least 72 hours of light, water, food safety, and backup power, based on FEMA's minimum preparedness standard.

The Department of Energy ordered emergency backup power across 17 states through August 3, the second such order in a week, as extreme heat strains the grid.

Use this 72-hour readiness guide to stay cool, communicate, and keep essentials running during a planned power outage. Prepare now.

Since January 2021, FEMA has recorded 351 federally declared disasters across the United States, and hurricanes rank third, behind severe storms and floods that hit landlocked states just as hard as the coast.