Individual, Family, and Home Preparedness

Be Ready Before an Emergency

Emergencies can happen at any time. Taking a few steps now can help you and your household stay safe, communicate, and recover more easily when disaster strikes.

Washington Emergency Management recommends preparing your household to be 2 Weeks Ready and focusing on knowing your hazards, making a plan, and building emergency supplies.

Know What Could Affect You

Start by learning about the hazards that could affect where you live, work, go to school, and spend time. Different hazards may require different actions, so knowing what is possible in your area can help you prepare before an emergency happens.

For Skagit County, this could include hazards such as flooding, earthquakes, severe weather, wildfires, landslides, tsunamis, power outages, and hazardous materials incidents.

Visit the Hazards page for more information.

Make a Household Emergency Plan

Your household may not be together when an emergency happens. Talk ahead of time about how you will communicate, where you will meet, and what you will do if you need to evacuate or shelter in place.

Your plan should include:

An out-of-area emergency contact
A meeting place near your home
A second meeting place outside your neighborhood
Emergency procedures for work, school, or childcare
Evacuation routes and possible destinations
Medications, mobility needs, medical equipment, and other household needs
Plans for pets and other animals.

For more information about household preparedness, visit WA Emergency Management Preparedness

Build a Go-Kit

After a major disaster, stores, utilities, transportation, and emergency services may be disrupted. Build emergency supplies gradually so your household can be as self-sufficient as possible.

Washington EMD recommends working toward two weeks of supplies at home, including food, water, medications, sanitation supplies, and other household needs. Smaller kits can also be kept at work, in vehicles, and on other places where you regularly spend time.

Pets and Animals

Pets depend on us during emergencies, so a little planning goes a long way. Make sure you have food, water, medications, identification, and transportation ready for your animals. Think ahead about where they could go if you need to evacuate, and keep carriers, leashes, and essential supplies in an easy‑to‑grab location. Preparing now helps keep your animals safe and reduces stress if you ever need to act quickly.

Access and Functional Needs

Consider the needs of older adults, people with disabilities, caregivers, people who rely on medical equipment, and anyone who may need additional assistance before, during, or after and emergency.

AFN Information

More Information

Emergency Information Posters

Helpful links

Sign up for Skagit Ready emergency alerts and notifications tailored to your registered address so you can receive important information during emergencies and disasters. Choose to receive text, call, or email alerts directly to your mobile devices, upload a safety profile, and share details about your health and functional needs so emergency workers can respond effectively.

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