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Medic & certified first aid instructor
Updated September 2026
When something is happening (a hurricane bearing down on the coast, a boil-water notice, a multi-day power outage, a wildfire evacuation order) the official guidance you need already exists. It’s scattered across dozens of federal agencies, state emergency management offices, and nonprofit organizations, each with their own site, their own terminology, and their own way of organizing things.
This page collects the resources I point people to, organized by what you’re trying to do rather than which agency happens to run it. It’s not a substitute for your state or local emergency management agency’s own guidance. It’s a map to help you find that guidance faster, plus the national tools (flood maps, hurricane tracking, disaster assistance applications) that don’t live at the state level.
Before you dig into official guidance, get a real number: use my free household water calculator to see exactly how much water your household needs to have on hand.
I keep this page updated as agencies reorganize their sites, which happens more often than you’d think. If a link below is broken, let me know and I’ll fix it.
National & federal resources
These are the core U.S. government resources that apply no matter where you live. Start here for kit-building guidance, disaster assistance applications, and real-time hazard tracking.
| Resource | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Ready.gov | FEMA’s main consumer preparedness hub: the best single starting point if you’re building a plan from scratch. |
| Ready.gov: Build a Kit | Official checklist for assembling a basic emergency supply kit. |
| Ready.gov: Make a Plan | Guidance for creating a family emergency communication and evacuation plan. |
| Ready.gov: Be Informed | Index of hazard-specific pages (floods, hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, and more). |
| FEMA.gov | The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s main site: disaster declarations, assistance programs, agency news. |
| DisasterAssistance.gov | The federal portal for finding and applying for disaster assistance across FEMA, SBA, and other agencies after a declared disaster. |
| FEMA: Apply for Disaster Assistance | FEMA’s own page on individual disaster assistance and how to apply. |
| FEMA Flood Map Service Center | Look up your property’s official FEMA flood zone and download flood insurance rate maps. |
| National Weather Service | NOAA’s source for forecasts, watches, and warnings for your exact location. |
| NWS Active Alerts | Current active weather alerts by state and county. |
| NOAA National Hurricane Center | Live tropical cyclone tracking, forecast cones, and hurricane preparedness guidance. |
| CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response | CDC’s public-health emergency preparedness hub. |
| SBA Disaster Assistance | Low-interest federal disaster loans for homeowners, renters, and businesses after a declared disaster. |
American Red Cross resources
The Red Cross runs the shelter network you’ll use during a real evacuation, plus some of the clearest hazard-specific checklists available anywhere.
| Resource | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Red Cross: How to Prepare for Emergencies | Main preparedness hub linking to every hazard-specific guide the Red Cross publishes. |
| Red Cross: Types of Emergencies | Index of individual hazard guides (fire, hurricane, earthquake, and more). |
| Red Cross: Home Fire Safety | Home Fire Campaign prevention and escape-plan guidance. |
| Red Cross: Hurricane Preparedness | Hurricane-specific preparedness checklist. |
| Red Cross: Earthquake Safety | Earthquake preparedness and response guidance. |
| Find an Open Shelter | Live map of currently open Red Cross disaster shelters: bookmark this one. |
| Red Cross Mobile Apps | Official Emergency, First Aid, and Hurricane apps with offline-capable guidance and real-time alerts. |
| Find Your Local Chapter | Locate your regional Red Cross chapter for local classes, blood drives, and volunteer opportunities. |
State emergency management agencies
Your state agency is the authority on evacuation orders, shelter openings, and state-specific assistance programs. Bookmark yours. It’s the source that will matter during a real event in your area.
I’ve also written a full state-specific guide for Florida, covering evacuation zones, alert systems, and local resources in more depth than this table can: more states are coming as I build them out.
| State | Agency | Website |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Alabama Emergency Management Agency | ema.alabama.gov |
| Alaska | Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Management | ready.alaska.gov |
| Arizona | Dept. of Emergency and Military Affairs | dema.az.gov |
| Arkansas | Arkansas Division of Emergency Management | dps.arkansas.gov/emergency-management/adem |
| California | Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) | www.caloes.ca.gov |
| Colorado | Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Management | dhsem.colorado.gov |
| Connecticut | Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security | portal.ct.gov/demhs |
| Delaware | Delaware Emergency Management Agency | dema.delaware.gov |
| Florida | Florida Division of Emergency Management | www.floridadisaster.org |
| Georgia | Georgia Emergency Mgmt. & Homeland Security Agency | gema.georgia.gov |
| Hawaii | Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency | dod.hawaii.gov/hiema |
| Idaho | Idaho Office of Emergency Management | ioem.idaho.gov |
| Illinois | Illinois Emergency Mgmt. Agency & Office of Homeland Security | iemaohs.illinois.gov |
| Indiana | Indiana Department of Homeland Security | www.in.gov/dhs |
| Iowa | Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management | homelandsecurity.iowa.gov |
| Kansas | Kansas Division of Emergency Management | www.kansastag.gov/101/KDEM |
| Kentucky | Kentucky Emergency Management | www.kyem.ky.gov |
| Louisiana | Governor’s Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness | gohsep.la.gov |
| Maine | Maine Emergency Management Agency | www.maine.gov/mema |
| Maryland | Maryland Department of Emergency Management | mdem.maryland.gov/pages/home-12345.aspx |
| Massachusetts | Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency | www.mass.gov/orgs/massachusetts-emergency-management-agency |
| Michigan | MSP Emergency Mgmt. & Homeland Security Division | www.michigan.gov/msp/divisions/emhsd |
| Minnesota | Homeland Security and Emergency Management | dps.mn.gov/divisions/hsem |
| Mississippi | Mississippi Emergency Management Agency | www.msema.org |
| Missouri | Missouri State Emergency Management Agency | sema.dps.mo.gov |
| Montana | Montana Disaster and Emergency Services | des.mt.gov |
| Nebraska | Nebraska Emergency Management Agency | nema.nebraska.gov |
| Nevada | Nevada Office of Emergency Management (reorganized 2025) | oem.nv.gov |
| New Hampshire | Div. of Homeland Security and Emergency Management | www.hsem.dos.nh.gov |
| New Jersey | New Jersey Office of Emergency Management | www.nj.gov/njoem |
| New Mexico | Dept. of Homeland Security and Emergency Management | www.dhsem.nm.gov |
| New York | Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services | www.dhses.ny.gov |
| North Carolina | NC Division of Emergency Management | www.ncdps.gov/our-organization/emergency-management |
| North Dakota | ND Department of Emergency Services | www.des.nd.gov |
| Ohio | Ohio Emergency Management Agency | ema.ohio.gov |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma Dept. of Emergency Management & Homeland Security | oklahoma.gov/oem.html |
| Oregon | Oregon Department of Emergency Management | www.oregon.gov/oem |
| Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency | www.pa.gov/agencies/pema |
| Rhode Island | Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency | riema.ri.gov |
| South Carolina | South Carolina Emergency Management Division | www.scemd.org |
| South Dakota | SD Office of Emergency Management | dps.sd.gov/emergency-services/emergency-management |
| Tennessee | Tennessee Emergency Management Agency | www.tn.gov/tema.html |
| Texas | Texas Division of Emergency Management | tdem.texas.gov |
| Utah | Utah Division of Emergency Management | dem.utah.gov |
| Vermont | Vermont Emergency Management | vem.vermont.gov |
| Virginia | Virginia Department of Emergency Management | www.vdem.virginia.gov |
| Washington | Washington State Emergency Management Division | mil.wa.gov/emergency-management-division |
| West Virginia | West Virginia Emergency Management Division | emd.wv.gov |
| Wisconsin | Wisconsin Emergency Management | wem.wi.gov |
| Wyoming | Wyoming Office of Homeland Security | hls.wyo.gov |
Resources by disaster type
Hurricane
- Ready.gov: Hurricanes
- NOAA National Hurricane Center: live tracking and forecast cones
- Red Cross: Hurricane Preparedness
Wildfire
Winter storm & extreme cold
- Ready.gov: Winter Weather
- National Weather Service: check your local forecast office for regional cold-weather safety guidance
Flood
- Ready.gov: Floods
- FEMA Flood Map Service Center: check your property’s flood zone
Earthquake
Extreme heat
- CDC: Extreme Heat
- Heat.gov: NOAA/CDC’s joint real-time heat risk tool
How to use this page
Don’t try to read this page top to bottom and absorb it. Instead:
- Find your state’s emergency management agency in the table above and bookmark it now, before you need it. That’s the source that will post real evacuation orders and shelter openings during an actual event in your area. Not a national news site, not social media.
- Sign up for local alerts through your state or county’s system if you haven’t already. Most state EMA sites link to a free text/email alert signup.
- Use the national tools for planning, not real-time decisions. Ready.gov and the Red Cross guides are excellent for building a kit and a plan ahead of time. When something is happening, your state/county agency and the National Weather Service are your real-time sources.
- Check your FEMA flood zone once, now. It affects insurance requirements and evacuation risk, and most people have never looked it up.
If you found this page useful, the rest of the site covers the practical side. What to put in a kit, which products hold up under real conditions, and how to think through specific scenarios like multi-day power outages or evacuation timelines.