A family emergency bag: what to pack and where to keep it

Why in advance In danger people panic and leave with whatever they can grab in a few minutes. A bag packed in advance carries what you need for the first two or three days.

What to pack - Drinking water in bottles, and water purification tablets - A few days of dry food: flattened rice, puffed rice, molasses, biscuits, dates; food for a baby - A few days of the family's regular medicines, and a photo or photocopy of the prescriptions - A small first-aid kit and a few packets of oral saline - A torch and spare batteries, a phone charger and a charged power bank - A small radio if you have one, with batteries - Photocopies of important papers in a waterproof bag, and some cash in small notes - A change of clothes, a gamchha, a thin blanket or sheet - Soap, sanitary pads, baby nappies - A whistle, to call out if you are trapped - A note of every family member's phone number, and 999, 1090 and Fire Service 16163

Your family's own needs An older person's glasses or stick, what a disabled member needs, a small child's bottle: think separately about what your family cannot do without.

Where to keep it - By the door, in a place everyone knows; up high in a flood-prone area. - Light enough for one person to carry on the shoulder. - Tell everyone in the family who takes the bag, and where to meet if you are separated.

Twice a year Check the dates on the food, water and medicines, change the batteries, and see that the children's clothes still fit. Before the monsoon and before winter: two times that are easy to remember.