Make a Plan

Disasters can strike quickly and without warning. It can force you to evacuate your neighborhood or confine you to your home.   What would you do if basic services – water, gas, electricity or telephones – were cut off?  First responders and relief workers will be on the scene after a disaster, but they cannot reach everyone right away.

Conduct Annual Family Meetings to discuss and update your disaster plan. Why not schedule your meeting every year on the same day as the California Great ShakeOut and City-Wide Disaster Drill, which falls on the third Thursday of October? Use the “Your Family Disaster Plan”(PDF, 280KB) brochure for talking points and suggested steps to follow.

You can also download this Editable Family Disaster Plan Template(PDF, 347KB)  (Plan familiar para casos de desastre(PDF, 345KB)). Fill in the fields of the template with the appropriate information from your disaster plan. You can use the ‘Tab’ key to continue on to the next field as you enter your family’s information.

Save your plan on your computer under your own filename. You can edit and resave Your Family Disaster Plan at any time.

Email the file of your completed Family Disaster Plan to relatives and close friends. Make sure to print a few paper copies for you and your family and store them in places that will be easily accessible in an emergency.

Tell family, friends, and neighbors that you made a plan and encourage them to make one as well.

Next, complete Step 2 “Build A Kit