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Prepping for beginners: start in 30 minutes.

Preparation works best as a habit, not a shopping trip. These first steps cost little, reduce uncertainty and make every later decision easier.

Start the 30-minute planOpen text-only version

Your first 30 minutes

Bring the people you live with into the conversation. Include children in an age-appropriate way and make space for anyone who communicates or moves differently.

Ten minutes: connect

  • Choose an out-of-area contact everyone can reach
  • Choose one meeting place near home
  • Choose a second meeting place outside your neighbourhood
  • Write important numbers on paper
  • Agree who will check on relatives, neighbours and pets

Ten minutes: gather

  • A working torch and spare batteries
  • A battery or wind-up radio
  • Phone charging cable and charged power bank
  • Paper copies of essential contacts
  • Current medicines list and basic first-aid items
  • Warm layers or blankets

Ten minutes: check water

  • Count sealed drinking water already at home
  • Check containers for leaks and expiry guidance
  • Note extra needs for babies, illness, heat and pets
  • Choose a cool, dark storage place
  • Add safe water to your next normal shop

Power and communication

Power cuts can also interrupt mobile networks, cash machines, fuel pumps and water systems. Keep more than one way to receive information and avoid using all battery power at once.

  • Enable official emergency alerts on your phone.
  • Keep a small radio that does not depend on mains electricity.
  • Write down your utility emergency numbers.
  • Learn how to turn off household utilities only when instructed or when it is clearly unsafe.
  • Never use a generator, barbecue or fuel-burning heater indoors or in an enclosed space.

Home and shelter

Identify the safest places in your home for different risks. A storm-safe area may be different from a place that protects from smoke or heat. Local guidance must decide the detail.

  • Keep exits, corridors and mobility routes clear.
  • Know where smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms are and test them regularly.
  • Store heavy items low and secure unstable furniture where earthquakes are possible.
  • Choose a room where people and pets can stay warm if heating fails.

When disruption is emerging

  1. Check the source. Use local authorities, emergency services, weather services and trusted broadcasters.
  2. Act early. Charge devices, fill safe containers if authorities say supply may fail, and contact the people in your plan.
  3. Protect attention. Share verified information and avoid repeatedly forwarding alarming claims.
  4. Preserve options. Keep transport fuelled where practical, medicines current and routes clear.