How to Stock a Go Bag
Here's how to be ready for when disaster strikes
Do you have a packed "go bag" in your home or car, in case an emergency forces you to flee? Odds are, you don’t. Only a third of Americans—33 percent—have assembled or updated the supplies they’d need for an emergency, according to a 2022 survey by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
To carry those supplies in the event you need to evacuate, you’ll need a go bag: a lightweight backpack, duffel, or carry-on bag, left near your bed or front door for a quick escape.
CR’s Storm & Emergency Guide can help you stay safe in any emergency.
"You surely need copies of your ID and other important papers," says Brenda Muhammad, executive director of Focusing Our Resources for Community Enlightenment (FORCE), a Syracuse, N.Y., not-for-profit that teaches emergency skills. "If you have to be placed somewhere else or file an insurance claim, you’ll need to prove who you are and where you’re from."
Those documents could include health insurance information, proof of flood and homeowners insurance coverage, passports, lists of passwords, copies of birth certificates and marriage licenses, and an inventory of your home’s contents. Scans of paper items can be stored electronically in the "cloud" or uploaded onto a thumb drive.
Muhammad also suggests thinking a bit beyond the mundane. "Some people need a deck of cards or a Bible," she notes. "It’s for comfort, or something to do."
How to
