For the Home

As with all types of emergencies, in the event of extreme cold weather or heavy snow, it is important to keep enough supplies in your home to meet your needs and those of each family member for three to five days. Assemble an Emergency Supplies Kit for your vehicle with items you may need in the event you are stranded in your vehicle or need to evacuate your home. Store these supplies in a sturdy, easy-to-carry containers such as backpacks, duffel bags or covered trash containers.

Here's what to include:

• Three- to five-day supply of water (one gallon per person per day)
• Three to five-day supply of food that won't spoil (peanut butter, granola, canned fruits and vegetables)
• Manual can- opener.
• One change of clothing
• One extra pair of comfortable shoes
• One blanket or sleeping bag per person.
• First aid kit that includes your family's prescriptions and medications. Include contacts or an extra pair of glasses.
• Battery-powered AM/FM radio
• Flashlights
• Plenty of extra batteries of all sizes to support your devices (flashlight, radio).
• An extra set of car and house keys
• Credit card, cash (small denominations) or traveler's checks.
• Sanitation supplies including toilet paper, soap, plastic garbage bags and disinfectant.
• Special items for infant, elderly or disabled family members.
• Important family documents in a waterproof container. Keep the originals of all important financial and family documents in a safe place. You will need accessible records for tax and insurance purposes.

Ask one person to be responsible for replacing water every three months and food every six months. Batteries should also be replaced on a re gular basis. Tape the call letters and frequency numbers of your emergency alert radio stations (EAS) on the radio and make sure everyone knows how to work the radio and put in fresh batteries. Also, tape the channel number of the television emergency broadcast stations on your TV.

For Your Vehicle

Your winter emergency supply kit for your car is very similar to your home winter emergency kit. Keep the following items in your vehicle during the winter:

• cell phone and charger
• blanket(s)/sleeping bag(s)
• high-calorie foods that don't require refrigeration or cooking (protein bars, nuts, beef jerky, etc.)
• flashlight with extra batteries
• first aid kit
• pocket knife
• a change of clothing in case you get wet
• bag of sand or clay cat litter (non-clumping) in the event of a liquid spillage
• shovel
• windshield scraper and brush
• tool kit (simple repair tools and jumper cables)
• tow rope
• Battery jumper booster cable
• compass
• road maps
• brightly colored cloth to use as a distress signal

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