General preparedness

Actions

• Install your national warning app and enable alertsEssential

  Official alerts reach you fastest by phone: EU countries run mobile warning systems, and most use cell broadcast, which needs no app or sign-up if it is enabled in your settings. Install your national app on top — in Germany that is NINA or KATWARN — and re-check both channels after each public warning-test day.

• Agree a household meeting point and contact personEssential

  When networks are congested and family members are scattered, a pre-agreed plan replaces frantic calling. Pick a meeting point everyone can reach on foot plus an out-of-area contact who relays messages, give every household member the numbers on paper, and walk through the plan together once or twice a year.

• Check and rotate supplies twice a year

  Supplies only help if they still work on the day you need them. Twice a year — fixed dates such as the clock changes make it a habit — check food and medicine expiry dates, eat and replace anything close to its date, test torches and the radio, top up power banks, and swap self-filled water containers for fresh.

Supplies

• Store 2 L water per person per day for several daysEssential

  Tap water can fail in many crises, so plan about 2 litres per person per day — roughly 1.5 L drinking plus 0.5 L cooking — for at least 72 hours; official German guidance suggests up to ten days. Keep sealed bottled water cool and dark, and refill self-filled food-grade containers roughly every six months.

• Stock non-perishable food that needs no cookingEssential

  A pantry covering at least 72 hours — the EU baseline; official German guidance suggests up to ten days — keeps a crisis manageable. Pick shelf-stable foods you can eat cold, such as canned vegetables and fish, crispbread, nuts and UHT milk, stock only what you normally eat, and add a manual can opener.

• Pack a grab bag and keep it by the doorEssential

  If you ever have to leave quickly, packing time is exactly what you will not have. Fill one sturdy backpack per person with water, snacks, personal medicines, a torch, a charged power bank, spare clothes, hygiene basics and document copies — enough for about 72 hours — and make sure everyone knows where it sits.

• Get a battery or hand-crank radio with spare batteriesEssential

  When power and mobile networks go down, broadcast transmitters keep running, so radio remains the most reliable channel for official instructions. Choose a set with both FM and DAB+ reception and combined battery plus crank or solar power, and store spare batteries outside the device so leaking cells cannot ruin it.

• Keep torches, power banks and chargers readyEssential

  Light and a working phone are the first things an outage takes away. Keep one LED torch or headlamp per person, standardise on AA or AAA so every spare fits every light, and add a USB-C power bank with Power Delivery in the 10,000-20,000 mAh class. Top it up every three to six months — stored banks self-discharge.

• Prepare a first-aid kit and about ten days of medicationEssential

  Minor injuries and interrupted pharmacy access come with almost every emergency. Use the DIN 13157 workplace standard as a benchmark for a well-stocked home kit, check it yearly because sterile dressings expire, and arrange a reserve of any regularly taken prescription medicine with your doctor or pharmacist early.

• Add sturdy work gloves to your kit

  Work gloves are on Germany's official BBK grab-bag list for a reason: after storms, floods or an evacuation you may handle broken glass, debris or hot and dirty surfaces. A simple pair of hardware-store work gloves (EN 388 as a benchmark) protects the hands you will need for everything else.

• Keep some cash in small notes and coinsEssential

  Card terminals and ATMs stop working with the power, so electronic payment can fail within hours. Authorities in several EU countries suggest roughly 70-100 euros per person in small notes plus some coins — about 72 hours' worth. Keep yours dry and discreet, in a fixed spot known only to trusted household members.

Skills

• Learn to shut off water, gas and electricity

  A burst pipe or an electrical fault does far less damage if you can cut the supply fast. Find your main water valve, gas shut-off and electrical panel — ask your landlord or utility if unsure — and show every adult how to operate them. If you smell gas, touch no switches — close the valve, open a window and leave.

Know & check

• Copy key documents into a waterproof folderEssential

  Replacing lost papers after a fire or flood can take months, so gather everything in one grab-ready folder whose location the whole household knows. Family certificates belong in it as originals, most other papers as certified or simple copies; add encrypted digital scans and deposit a duplicate set outside your home.

• Keep offline maps and a paper map of your area

  When mobile data fails, phone maps go blank — official German guidance recommends downloading offline map areas for your home and work region in advance. Add one folded paper map (city or regional) to the kit and mark your meeting points on it; it needs no battery and works when everything else is down.