What to do in an emergency: earthquakes, blackouts, floods
Every emergency has a handful of simple rules that make the difference. They are all here, in the order you will need them: before, during and after.
Guides
- What to do in an earthquake How to prepare your home for an earthquake, what to do in the seconds of shaking, why you shouldn't run for the stairs and what to check afterwards.
- Power outage (blackout) What stops working when the grid goes down, what to do in the first hours, how to keep the food in your fridge safe and how to get through several days without power, summer or winter.
- What to do in a flood Flood warnings, what to do if your home is in a flood zone, how to evacuate and what to check when you return. Advice for your home and for the road.
- Heatwave safety How to keep your home cool without air conditioning, how much to drink, how to recognize heat exhaustion and heatstroke, and what to do until the ambulance arrives.
- House and apartment fires Smoke alarms, fire extinguishers and an escape plan. What to do if a pan of oil catches fire, an appliance burns or smoke fills the stairwell.
- Winter storms and extreme cold What to do if you're snowed in, how to stop pipes freezing, how to recognize hypothermia and frostbite, and how to stay safe if the power and heating go off.
- Sirens, alerts and shelters How public warning systems work, why you should never turn off emergency alerts on your phone, how to find your nearest shelter and what to take with you.
- Air raid and drone alerts: taking shelter What to do when an air raid siren sounds or a phone alert warns of an aerial threat: the safest spot in an apartment, the two-wall rule, what to do outdoors or in a car, how to set up a shelter corner and what to do with drone debris.
- Nuclear emergency and iodine tablets What to do in the first hours after a nuclear accident: get inside, stay inside, stay tuned. How to decontaminate, which food and water are safe, and what potassium iodide tablets do, who they're for and when to take them.
- Stuck in a car in snow What to do if you're stranded in your car in a snowstorm: why you shouldn't walk off, how to keep warm without poisoning yourself, how long to run the engine, how to be seen and what to keep in the trunk all winter.
- Earthquake away from home What to do if an earthquake hits while you're outdoors, driving, on the subway, in a store, at work, in the mountains or in a wheelchair. The rules that differ from being at home, and the mistakes that injure most people.