Flood insurance protects your finances. A flood kit protects your life. You need both — and the kit is the one you can finish this weekend for a couple hundred dollars. Everything below is organized the way emergency managers think: survive the first 72 hours, protect the irreplaceable, and get out if you have to.
1 Water & food — 72 hours per person
Floodwater contaminates everything it touches, including your tap water. Plan on one gallon per person per day for three days — more in heat, more for kids.
Water storage containers
Stackable 5-gallon containers or a 55-gallon drum for the garage. Rotate every 6 months.
Non-perishable food
Three days of food that needs no cooking and no refrigeration: peanut butter, canned tuna, protein bars, dried fruit, crackers.
Manual can opener
The most-forgotten item in every kit. Electric openers are useless in a blackout.
2 Light & power
Floods knock out power for days. You need light that doesn't depend on the grid and a way to hear warnings when the cell towers are down.
Hand-crank emergency radio
NOAA weather band + AM/FM, with crank and solar charging plus a USB port to top off your phone. This is how you get evacuation orders when the internet dies.
LED flashlights & headlamps
One flashlight per person, plus a headlamp for hands-free work (bailing, boarding windows, carrying kids).
Portable power bank
A 20,000mAh+ bank charges a phone 4–5 times. Keep it charged — check it when you check your smoke detectors.
3 First aid & medications
Floodwater is contaminated with sewage, chemicals, and debris. Cuts become infections fast. Pharmacies may be closed for a week.
Comprehensive first aid kit
Bandages, gauze, antiseptic, antibiotic ointment, tweezers, medical tape. Add a 7-day supply of any prescription in a waterproof pouch.
Waterproof document pouch
Copies of insurance policies, IDs, deeds, medical prescriptions, and your flood elevation certificate — sealed against water.
4 Flood-specific gear
These are the items generic emergency lists skip — and the ones that actually save a house.
Quick-dam water barriers
Sand-free flood barriers that swell on contact with water. A 10-foot run in front of each door buys you inches that matter.
Battery-backup sump pump
When the power dies, your sump pump dies with it — exactly when you need it most. A battery backup keeps pumping for hours.
Waterproof boots & gloves
Knee-high waterproof boots and heavy rubber gloves for wading through contaminated water during cleanup.
5 Evacuation go-bag
If authorities say go, you go — with 10 minutes of packing. Keep one bag per person by the door during flood season.
Go-bag backpack
Change of clothes, chargers, cash (ATMs die in outages), whistle, copies of documents, 3 days of meds, comfort item for kids.
Pet supplies
Carrier, 3 days of food and water, leash, medications, vaccination records. Shelters increasingly accept pets — but only with carriers.
6 The car rule
More than half of flood deaths happen in vehicles. Six inches of moving water can knock you down. Twelve inches can carry away a car. "Turn around, don't drown" isn't a slogan — it's the whole plan.
Car window breaker + seatbelt cutter
If water traps you in the car, you have seconds. Keep one clipped to every driver's visor — not in the trunk.
Printable checklist
Print this, tape it inside a closet door, and check items off twice a year — when the clocks change is easy to remember.
- Water: 1 gallon per person per day × 3 days (rotate every 6 months)
- Non-perishable food for 3 days + manual can opener
- Hand-crank NOAA weather radio
- Flashlight + headlamp per person, extra batteries
- Portable power bank (charged)
- First aid kit + 7-day prescription supply in waterproof pouch
- Copies of insurance, IDs, deeds in waterproof bag
- Flood barriers for ground-floor doors
- Battery-backup sump pump (tested)
- Waterproof boots + rubber gloves
- Go-bag per person (clothes, chargers, cash, whistle, meds)
- Pet carrier, food, leash, records
- Window breaker / seatbelt cutter in each vehicle
- Evacuation route planned — and a second route
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