Ideas for Home Emergency Storage

Have you thought about emergency storage for your home?

Most states have some potential for one emergency or another. I know from living in San Diego that a fire emergency can have you locked in your house for a week, as I once was. I now live in Colorado and snowstorms can be an issue.

It may be part of our denial of these facts that has us build houses with no provision for emergency storage. This page is for those who wish to protect their family and be prepared in case of an emergency. It will help you with the storage aspect of emergency preparation.

This kind of preparation can happen over time, little by little, it does not have to be an overwhelming project. I personally always bring something home when I go shopping and add to the emergency food. All it takes is to add faster than you take away.

Not a Pantry, but Related to It

It is different than a pantry, and has a different function. An emergency cabinet or closet is a place where you keep almost everything you would need in case of an emergency. Food, water, batteries, duct-tape, tarps, etc, whatever the American Red Cross suggests you keep for an emergency.

The food and water items can be rotated with what you keep in your pantry if you keep the same foods for an emergency that you eat regularly.

So a part of this closet (or cabinet) can be structured and designed very much like your kitchen pantry.

If You Have no Space for Emergency Storage, Create It

If you have a basement, that is probably a good location, since your basement may also be the place your family might need to take shelter in.

Do you have a space under the stairs that can be transformed into a closet?

A garage cabinet or two may be just the right place, if you do not have a basement.

Emergency Closet Design

For an emergency closet, you can use different kinds of shelves with different depths. Deeper shelves will accommodate larger items like blankets and sleeping bags, and smaller shelves are perfect for canned food and staples.

The part that you rotate could be closest to the door, since you will be emptying and restocking those shelves on a regular basis.

Include this planning for an emergency in your overall home organization.

Some items, especially those that you may store for years, belong in bins, and for those you will need deeper shelves, maybe as deep as 24".

How well your emergency store is organized may mean a lot to you and your family in an emergency. Here, just as in the rest of your home, like things together, and labels may be asked for.

One way to keep track and to speed things up in an emergency is to list all items, except for the food items that you rotate, and keep that list near the door.