A shelter order can arrive when the roads are already dangerous, the air outside is unsafe, or leaving would put your family directly in harm’s way. This family shelter in place guide helps you prepare for the moment when home is the safest option – and when a normal household must quickly function as a protected space for several hours or several days.
The worst day hits fast. Do not assume you will have time to shop, charge devices, fill containers, or decide where everyone should go. Build the supplies, space, and plan before an emergency turns your front door into a safety barrier.
Know When to Shelter Instead of Evacuate
Sheltering in place means staying indoors and limiting exposure to danger outside. It is common during tornado warnings, severe winter storms, hazardous chemical releases, wildfire smoke events, civil emergencies, and extended power outages. Local officials may issue a shelter order, but families also need judgment when conditions make travel immediately unsafe.
A shelter plan is not an excuse to stay during a mandatory evacuation. If authorities tell your area to leave because of a wildfire, hurricane, flood, or other advancing hazard, evacuate early using your prepared go-bags. Floodwater, fire spread, and structural danger can overwhelm a home. Shelter in place is for the period when leaving creates more risk than remaining inside.
Your plan should identify two locations: a primary shelter area for most events and a separate severe-weather refuge. A basement may be best for a tornado, while an interior room above flood level may be safer during flash flooding. A room with few windows can reduce exposure to broken glass and airborne debris, but it may not be the right place for a chemical emergency if it cannot be sealed.
Choose and Prepare Your Shelter Space
Walk through your home now and choose the room your family can reach quickly, even at night. For many households, an interior bathroom, hallway, closet, or basement works well. The ideal space depends on the threat, but it should be away from exterior windows, have enough floor space for everyone, and be accessible to children, older adults, and pets.
Keep a sturdy pair of shoes, work gloves, flashlights, and a battery-powered emergency radio nearby. After a storm or earthquake, broken glass, nails, and damaged flooring can turn a short walk through the house into an injury. Store a whistle in the shelter space as well. If a collapse or debris traps someone, shouting may not be enough to bring help.
For tornadoes and violent wind, place helmets, blankets, sleeping bags, or thick cushions in the room. A bike helmet can help protect against head injuries from flying debris. Get low, cover your head and neck, and stay away from windows. Do not shelter in a vehicle, a mobile home, or an upper-floor room during a tornado warning if a safer building option is available.
For earthquakes, the immediate action is different: drop, cover, and hold on. Do not run outside while shaking is underway. Once it stops, assess injuries, watch for gas leaks and structural damage, and move only if your home is unsafe.
Make a Small Room Work for a Whole Family
A shelter space does not need to look like a bunker. It needs to work under pressure. Keep it uncluttered enough for people to sit or lie down, with essential gear in labeled waterproof bins or durable bags. Put the items adults may need most often within reach, but store medications, blades, matches, and chemicals out of children’s reach.
Assign each person a role that fits their age and ability. One adult can bring pets and grab the radio. Another can check the family roster and medicine. Older children can carry shoes, water, or comfort items for younger siblings. Clear jobs reduce panic and prevent one person from trying to do everything.
Build Supplies for at Least 72 Hours
A shelter-in-place kit should support your household without tap water, electricity, store access, or reliable cell service. Three days is a minimum. In regions prone to winter storms, hurricanes, or long utility outages, preparing for seven days is wiser.
Start with water. Store at least one gallon per person per day for drinking and basic sanitation. A family of four needs at least 12 gallons for three days, plus additional water for pets, formula-fed infants, and medical needs. Keep some water in portable containers so you can move it if one part of the home becomes unsafe.
Your food should be shelf-stable, familiar, and ready to eat or easy to prepare with limited fuel. Choose items your family will actually consume: canned meals, nut butter, protein bars, shelf-stable milk, crackers, dried fruit, and infant or pet food where needed. Keep a manual can opener with the food. Do not build a pantry around foods that require electricity, large amounts of water, or cooking equipment you do not own.
Your core shelter supplies should include:
- Battery-powered or hand-crank emergency radio with weather alerts
- Headlamps and flashlights, plus spare batteries stored together
- First-aid kit, prescription medications, copies of prescriptions, and basic over-the-counter medicine
- Phone power banks, charging cords, and a portable power station sized for critical devices
- N95 masks, eye protection, and disposable gloves for smoke, dust, or cleanup
- Plastic sheeting, duct tape, towels, and scissors for temporary sealing during an airborne hazard
- Hygiene supplies, toilet paper, garbage bags, disinfecting wipes, and a bucket with heavy-duty liners for sanitation
- Paper copies of emergency contacts, insurance details, identification, and local maps in a waterproof bag
Check expiration dates twice a year. Rotate food, batteries, medicine, and stored water according to the product guidance. Equipment buried in a closet and never tested is not a plan. It is clutter.
Protect Indoor Air During Smoke or Chemical Emergencies
Wildfire smoke and industrial releases create different risks, but both can make outside air dangerous. When officials direct you to shelter indoors, bring everyone inside immediately. Close and lock windows and exterior doors. Shut fireplace dampers and turn off fans, window air conditioners, and ventilation systems that pull air from outdoors.
For smoke, a portable air purifier with a true HEPA filter can meaningfully improve the air in a closed room. Use it in the room where your family spends the most time. N95 masks help when you must briefly go outdoors, but they are not a substitute for clean indoor air, especially for children or people with breathing conditions.
For a chemical release, follow official instructions precisely. You may be told to seal doors, windows, vents, and other gaps with plastic sheeting and tape. Do not permanently block required ventilation or improvise with generators, grills, or fuel-burning heaters indoors. Carbon monoxide is invisible, odorless, and deadly. Every home needs working carbon monoxide alarms, particularly when power outages force families to use alternate heat or cooking methods.
Plan for Power, Communication, and Medical Needs
When the power fails, your plan gets tested quickly. Keep phones charged when severe weather is forecast, but do not rely on phones alone. Cell networks can become overloaded or fail. An emergency radio provides official alerts, while a written contact plan gives everyone a fallback if family members are separated.
Choose one out-of-area contact who can receive status updates from each family member. Agree on a simple message format: safe, location, needs, and next check-in time. Text messages often work when calls do not. Keep phone numbers on paper because a dead phone can erase the contacts you depend on.
If anyone in your household uses refrigerated medicine, oxygen, mobility equipment, or a powered medical device, prepare beyond the standard 72-hour kit. Ask the medical provider what backup power, storage temperature, and replacement supplies are required. A portable power station may keep a phone, light, or small medical device running, but capacity varies sharply. Match the equipment to the actual wattage and runtime you need before an outage.
Practice the Family Shelter in Place Plan
A plan that has never been practiced will feel unfamiliar when alarms sound. Run a short drill twice a year. Announce a simulated shelter order, start a timer, and see how long it takes everyone to reach the designated room with pets and essentials. Fix what slows you down.
Talk through likely scenarios without frightening children. Teach them that an emergency alert means they should follow the plan, not search for a parent or wait for more information. Include renters in the same process: you may not control the building, but you can still prepare supplies, know the safest interior location, and learn how to shut off utilities only if doing so is safe and appropriate.
Preparation is not fear. It is the decision to make your home more capable before your family has no good choices left. Set aside an hour this week, choose the room, gather the first supplies, and make sure every person in your household knows where safety starts.