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Reliable tornado data sourced from official organizations:
The average tornado warning gives you about 13 minutes. Build your tornado survival kit now and keep it where you shelter — here's exactly what belongs in it and why.
~13 min
Average warning lead time
72 hrs
Minimum self-sufficiency
1 gal
Water per person, per day
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#1 · Start here
Start with one complete kit, then upgrade around it with the nine essentials below.
If you buy one thing on this page, make it this. Ready America builds a kit specifically for tornadoes — a grab-and-go backpack with 72 hours of supplies for two people, following American Red Cross guidelines. It handles the basics in a single purchase, so the rest of this list is about upgrading around it.
What's inside
#2 – #10
Pre-built kits cover the basics. These are the items that make the difference in the hours after a tornado.
The most important single item you can add. Cell networks fail during major outbreaks, and a tornado at 2 AM won't wake you — a weather radio with alarm will. Look for one with SAME county programming so it only alarms for your area.
Pro tip: Program your county's SAME code, then confirm it alarms during your local NWS weekly test.
Head injuries from flying debris are the leading cause of tornado deaths. A bike helmet, batting helmet, or hard hat dramatically improves your odds — keep them in your shelter space, not the garage.
Pro tip: One per person, including kids — and re-check the fit every spring as they grow.
Power is usually the first thing to go. A headlamp keeps your hands free to move debris or carry kids. Store batteries separately so they don't corrode inside.
Pro tip: Skip candles. Gas leaks are common after a tornado, and an open flame is a real danger.
Your phone is your lifeline for alerts, calls, and flashlight backup. A charged high-capacity power bank keeps it alive through a multi-day outage. Recharge it every few months.
Pro tip: Top it off every time the clocks change so it's never sitting dead in the kit.
FEMA recommends one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days — far more than any pre-built kit includes. Water mains often break in damaged areas. Add canned food and a manual opener for larger families.
Pro tip: Use the water calculator below to size it for your household.
The most overlooked item. After a tornado, you'll walk through fields of broken glass, splintered wood, and exposed nails — often in the dark. Keep old sneakers or boots and heavy gloves in your shelter spot.
Pro tip: Store them in a sealed bag so they stay dry and free of debris.
The 33-piece kit in a go-bag covers scrapes; a real trauma kit with gauze, tourniquets, and gloves covers glass and debris injuries when emergency services can take hours to reach damaged neighborhoods.
Pro tip: Add a tourniquet and learn to use it — free Stop the Bleed classes are offered nationwide.
Insurance policies, IDs, deeds, and medication lists — recovery goes much faster when these survive. A fireproof, waterproof pouch in the kit means you never scramble for them with minutes of warning.
Pro tip: Also snap photos of every room now — they make insurance claims far easier later.
Keep a few days of essential medications, a spare pair of glasses, and something small for kids (or pets — leash, carrier, food). These are the items people most regret not having in a shelter.
Pro tip: Tape a written list of medications and doses inside the bag lid.
Interactive
Check items off as you pack them. Your progress is saved in your browser — come back anytime.
Let's build your kit
0 of 18 items packed. Your progress is saved on this device, so you can check things off as you shop.
The 10 essentials
Easy extras
Water calculator
People
Duration
≈ 2 cases of 24 × 16.9 oz bottles. Add extra for pets, nursing mothers, and hot weather.
Tornado Path · tornadopath.com/tornado-emergency-kit · Keep this list with your kit.
No kit replaces the two things that actually save lives: getting the warning in time, and knowing your shelter spot. Decide today where your family goes during a warning — the basement, or the most interior room on the lowest floor, away from windows. Then make sure a warning can reach you, including at night.
Placement
A kit only works if it's already where you shelter. You may have less than two minutes once the sirens start.
Keep it here
Basement or storm shelter
The best spot. Put the kit under the stairs or a sturdy workbench.
Interior room, lowest floor
No basement? A windowless closet, bathroom, or hallway in the center of the house.
Mobile home? Plan to leave
Mobile homes aren't safe in a tornado. Keep the kit by the door and know your nearest sturdy shelter.
Not here
The garage
Garage doors are often the first thing to fail in high winds.
Upstairs closets or the attic
You won't have time to climb up and back down with a warning in effect.
Only in the car
Great as a second kit — but useless if the car isn't home when a warning hits.
A kit only matters if you get the warning in time to use it. Tornado Path can call, text, and email you the moment the National Weather Service issues a tornado warning for your exact address — even at 2 AM.
A phone call that wakes you up
Plus text and email — on every phone in your household.
Your exact address, not your county
Alerts use the NWS warning polygon, so no false alarms for storms across the county.
Seconds after NWS issues it
Every one of those ~13 minutes counts.
Keep it ready
Dead batteries and expired water are the most common kit failures. Put these on your calendar.
Every 6 months
When the clocks change
Every spring
Before peak tornado season
After every warning
While it's fresh
Level up
Once the basics are covered, these take your preparedness further.
Runs phones, medical devices, and a fridge through multi-day outages after a major tornado.
Warnings don't wait until you're home. Jumper cables, water, first aid, and a blanket in the trunk cover you on the road.
Questions
At minimum: a NOAA weather radio, helmets, flashlights, a first aid kit, a phone power bank, three days of water and food, a whistle, sturdy shoes and gloves, emergency blankets, and copies of important documents. A pre-built 72-hour kit covers the basics in one purchase; add prescription medications and supplies for kids and pets.
In or next to your shelter space — the basement, or the interior room on the lowest floor where you'd ride out a warning. A kit in the garage or an upstairs closet is useless when you have two minutes to take cover.
Two big additions: helmets, because flying debris causes most tornado deaths, and a whistle, in case you need rescuers to find you in a collapsed structure. Tornado kits also stay in your shelter spot year-round instead of being a grab-and-go bag.
FEMA recommends one gallon per person per day for at least three days — that covers drinking and basic sanitation while crews restore service to damaged areas.
Every six months is a good rhythm — the daylight saving time changes make an easy reminder. Rotate water and food, test or replace batteries, recharge power banks, and check medication expiration dates. Restock right after any warning where you used the kit.
Yes. A shelter keeps you safe during the tornado, but the kit is what gets you through the hours afterward — light, water, first aid, a way to signal rescuers, and shoes to walk out safely. Keep the kit inside the shelter itself.
