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One of the most challenging topics in disaster and emergency preparedness is water storage. When I first started in disaster preparedness, the guidance was to have a gallon of water per person per day. With larger disasters, such as Hurricane Helene, that guidance has changed to “several days”. In my opinion, this is a clear declaration that there is no guarantee help can get there within 3 days.

I mentioned in the article on the Disaster Preparedness Checklist that water storage poses a problem for many people, including my grandparents. They are in their 90s and my Grandma has dementia as well as several other medical issues. Neither of them is capable of carrying several gallons of water each. They are not alone in this challenge. Many people struggle or will struggle to carry enough water for their families and get everything else taken care of.

Should We Stay Or Should We Go – Water Storage Needs Vary

When we explore water storage, there are two general dynamics to consider.

First – we need water we can take with us in an emergency or disaster. Sometimes this is called a “Go Bag” or a “Bug Out Kit” because you need to grab it and go (or bug out). Water storage needs to be appropriate for travel and potentially harsh conditions. That’s why I’m not a fan of commercial water bottles. Even the gallon size has had reductions in stability and durability.

Second – we need to plan for water storage if we need to shelter-in-place. This just means we can’t leave the house. In this scenario, we may have access to running water that is contaminated OR we do not have access to water because it’s shut off for some reason. If we can access running water, we can use water purification or water filtration methods. Otherwise, we need to have water storage.

Exploring Real World Examples – Water Storage Needs When Evacuating

I was teaching an after-school group of 6 and 7-year-old kids. These kids cracked me up and asked amazing questions. One question related to the disaster kit, but specifically for water. After explaining that we need to have water that can travel with us, one kid asked, “what about when we have a house fire or have to get out of the house so fast that we can’t grab the kit and water?”

Good question, young one! For most disasters, if we need to evacuate quickly the rest of the community is fine. If you consider a house fire, it’s just your home (or apartment complex) that is affected. Perhaps the neighbors need to evacuate as a precaution. I’ve worked with several people who climbed out a window or escaped through creative methods to survive a home fire. They didn’t have time to grab a kit/water.

While I don’t want to use the term “good news” with a disaster, there is some good news (because we’re in the preparedness phase – this is some relief for your preparedness). The good news is that disasters that are not community-wide means the community still has resources! You can go somewhere within your community to get water (store, neighbor, restaurant, etc.). Water isn’t out in a community when there is a single housefire, or even a multi-house fire. If you can’t get your kit, there are still resources.

When Water Storage Counts For Evacuations

The major concern for water storage is when you need to evacuate because of a larger disaster. The wildfires in southern California are still ongoing as I write this, including the deadly Palisades fire. Reports show that when the fire was first noticed, some residents had moments to react and others had longer.

Evacuating the home was the first challenge. The next was evacuating the area. From the reports, we know that people were told to evacuate but there was nowhere for most of them to go. Any plans for evacuation failed. While some people abandoned their vehicles, many sat in traffic with no option to stop for water unless they had it with them.

Wildfires in Texas

When I worked in Texas, I responded (as disaster relief, not a first responder) to a wildfire in an area I consider more rural. There were homes next to each other on the streets, but not like in the city. A fire started nearby. It was moving so fast that notifications didn’t have time to go out before homes were hit. One of the residents had a truck and bull horn and drove through the streets notifying anyone that could hear. The fire department was knocking on doors and evacuating.

One woman reported a knock on the door. It was the fire department telling her to evacuate. She wanted to head upstairs to retrieve some items and the fireman said there was no time, grabbed her threw her over his shoulder, and then onto the truck to get her out of there. The house was in flames within seconds.

Wildland Fires in California

As I write this, the Eaton and Palisades fire around the Los Angeles, California area continue to burn. While some areas are under an evacuation order, there are also areas that are under a “Do Not Drink Water” notification or a “Do Not Use Water” notification. This is from the City of Pasadena:

As that snippet from the website shows, fire has damaged or destroyed water treatment facilities. The city is not issuing a boil water order, but a “do not drink” and “do not use” (these terms are used in and around the Eaton and Palisades fires at this time). I’ve heard that there are several organizations collecting donations for water and distributing water to the affected areas, but this is a good example of a time you need to have water storage whether you need to evacuate or not.

Why Have Water Storage If I Might Not Get To Grab It?

I get this question a lot, but keep in mind those stories of the immediate evacuation are the very initial disaster. The majority of people SHOULD have enough notice to grab emergency supplies and evacuate. I’m not going to say this always happens (it should, but it doesn’t). We know from the 2023 Hawaii wildfires that notification doesn’t always come. That’s not something YOU control. That’s something that occurs at the local and state government level. Your role is preparedness.

More than likely you’ll have enough time to grab your emergency supplies. When you grab your emergency supplies, you implement your personal preparedness plans. If you have any medical conditions, preferences, or needs that are difficult to accommodate – you want YOUR preparedness resources. Even when I’ve worked with people who could not grab their kit, they had done the work. They had adequate insurance, they had a good assessment of what they needed to replace, and they knew the places to go to get replacement documents or medications (I mentioned in the Disaster Kit article that I take a specialty medication and spent weeks tracking down how to get that in the event of a disaster).

Shouldn’t The Government Take Care Of Us?

Some people ask me why they need to worry about it when the government will take care of them. They point to shelters in each major disaster and argue they don’t need to prepare. Focusing just on water, let’s explore that for a moment. The percentage of people that go to a shelter is usually very small. I once worked an evacuation where thousands were evacuated and no one came to the shelter. Why not? Usually because there are still resources in the community. They went to a family or friend’s house, a hotel/motel, or perhaps decided to travel out of the area.

In my experience, the “government” doesn’t provide disaster relief. First responders work on evacuation and life safety (and then preservation of property if life safety is complete). First responders are part of the “government” response. If you need to enter a shelter or get resources while the disaster is ongoing, non-profits and non-government organizations typically run disaster relief. The American Red Cross plays a large role in disaster relief.

Resources Are Always Limited

In larger disasters, there will be LIMITED resources. Access to the area may be limited so supplies may be slow (I think of Hurricane Helene where some communities didn’t get help for days or even weeks). The more people that are prepared with their own water means those LIMITED resources are used for people who couldn’t prepare in advance or couldn’t grab their supplies before evacuation.

As a final thought – was the California government providing water to people stuck in traffic trying to evacuate? Not that I’ve heard of (and really, the government response should focus on getting people out of the area). You can end up in a situation where help may take a while to arrive and you only have your resources – so, you should NOT rely on the “government” to provide assistance immediately. First responders support the primary goal of life safety. Normal government resources are limited (especially lately). There is a chance you might be on your own to get your own water, stuck in traffic waiting to evacuate with the rest of the community.

Water Storage That Travels

You may need to “bug out” or get out of the house quickly for a variety of reasons. Locally, we have wildfires (or wildland fires) that create evacuation orders. Sometimes the affected area gets hours notice and sometimes they get 10 minutes or less. Ideally, you have your water storage in containers that travel well. This means you need to consider:

• Durability and stability – if you want water when you need it following a disaster, you should store water in a durable and stable container. In my experience, that usually is not bottled water.
• PFAS Contamination – now, this is a tough one to determine since most PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) detection requires a lab. As of today, there are no approved at-home tests for these “forever chemicals”. So, this is just an observation. More plastic means more chance of PFAS contamination. A larger container holding the water could minimize the amount of PFAS. Of course, you can always purify your water as I talk about in this article.
• Portability – since you’re taking this with you as you leave quickly, you need portable water storage. Generally, this means containers you can carry and move quickly. If you can’t carry a 20-gallon container of water – don’t get that large. I like 5-gallon containers. They are still a bit heavy for me, but I can manage to get them into my car quickly (I can recover after we’re loaded up).

There are dozens of water storage options to choose from. Check Amazon here to see if something fits your needs. Just make sure it mentions it is good for water storage and is well-rated.

Water Storage That Stays At Home

Thankfully, your traveling water storage can help in the event you need to stay at home during a disaster. Additionally, there is the possibility that you will still have access to water during a disaster but may need to take action to filter and/or purify the water. Check out this article on water purification and water filtration.

How much water you should store is something you need to decide. Following Hurricane Helene, some areas did not have water for more than a few days. While this may be an extreme example, some argue that disasters will keep getting worse than they’ve been in the past. I have my opinions on how this is determined, but Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton taught us that we’re facing new challenges with disasters.

There are plenty of disasters or crises that can create a situation where you need to stay at home and do not have water. Ready.gov just says 1 gallon per person for several days (for drinking and cleaning). The guidance was formerly 1 gallon of water per person for 3 days. With disasters increasing and response time increasing for some disasters, you likely need to consider a minimum of 1 gallon per person for many days. For water that isn’t traveling (though, you can still use that if necessary), you can get larger containers that stay in the home.

Which Water Storage Is Best For Shelter In Place?

Shelter in place is another term for staying at home. In this article, we’re focusing on the WATER needs for sheltering in place/staying at home during and after a disaster. Ideally, you still have access to water. Even if you’re not in hurricane territory and have to worry about contaminated water for 2 months like Hurricane Helene – you might need to clean your water. Since I have a detailed article on options for water purification and water filtration, lets focus on the resources need.

1. Water storage – there are plenty of disasters that cut off water. Earthquakes break pipes taking water from the city supply to your home. Wildfires can burn up resources that supply water to your community. Electronics can break creating a situation where the water stops. There can be a threat of contamination that shuts the water system down. Freezing temperatures can bust pipes or freeze water supplying the electrical grid that is then supplying the water (In Texas, during the freeze of 2021, more than 12 million people had water disruption and over 200,000 people had water systems non-operational due to the freeze).
   • Water storage that is portable
   • Water storage for staying at home/sheltering in place
2. Ways to boil water if power and gas are off – Many houses are electric only. If the power shuts off and the water still runs, how do you boil water? Even if you have gas for your stove, many disasters can create a situation where gas shuts down. If both electricity and gas are off, how do you boil water?
3. Water filtration and water purification options – I covered this in greater detail here, but consider how you will keep or make your water safe to drink (and sometimes boil water orders are not enough).
4. Water testing – I’m a fan of testing the water. Even with water storage, there can be instances where the water gets contaminated. Having water testing options on hand can speed up the process of drinking your stored water and help you identify potential contaminants in water sources.

Working Through Your Unique Disasters and Needs

To help you test what your water needs are, review prior disasters in the area and what was reported as challenges. This doesn’t cover all potential issues as the Texas freeze in 2021 was an anomaly that most people had never experienced. The people evacuating from wildfires in California probably did not expect to get stuck on the roads while evacuating (though, they may have anticipated that since California traffic gets pretty bad during rush hour).

If you are in a hurricane-prone area, you now know that there are scenarios where you may need access to drinking water and purification methods for an extended period. No matter where you are at, wildfires are almost always a risk of some level and now you know the potential evacuation can turn into a nightmare and you’ll likely need water.

You can identify different storage options and your unique water storage needs by thinking through the disasters that are most likely to affect your area. Then, start integrating those items as you can.