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Write and practise the household security plan

A plan ensures everyone knows when to go to the safe room, how to get in and out, and what to do after.

How

1. Write who goes to the safe room for each hazard: storm warning, wildfire, intrusion. FEMA P-320 covers making a family emergency plan and supply kit.
2. Write how to call for help from inside and who to contact.
3. Tell the local fire and emergency services where a storm shelter is (FEMA recommendation) and include it in your emergency plan.
4. Practise getting everyone into the room, closing the door and opening it from inside, at least twice a year.
5. Add a power-cut security check to the drill: open garage doors and gates by hand and check every lock with keys only (secure-29).
6. Practise in the dark with emergency lighting only.
7. Review the plan, the inventory and the stored supplies each year.

Do these first

• safety-22

Sources

1. FEMA P-320 Taking Shelter from the Storm: Building a Safe Room for Your Home or Small Business (6th ed., 2nd issuance). US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), accessed 2026-11
2. Residential Safe Room fact sheet. FEMA, accessed 2026-11
3. Build a Kit. Ready.gov (FEMA), accessed 2026-11

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