Emergency supplies at home: what to keep for a week without power, water or shops

Try an experiment tonight. Switch off the main breaker and imagine the power won't come back before Thursday.

The fridge stops humming. The router goes dark, and with it the wifi. Your phone still works, for a while, but the battery drains and the local mast may not hold out for long. The heating, if it runs on a heat pump or has an electric control unit, stops. The cash machine downstairs no longer dispenses notes, and the corner shop can't take cards. And the tap? In most cases water keeps flowing for a while, but nothing guarantees it will for days.

This isn't an exercise for doom-mongers. It is exactly the kind of situation for which the Swiss Confederation recommends that every household keep emergency supplies. Not to survive the end of the world, but so that you don't have to depend on anyone for a few days, while the emergency services look after those who really need help.

Why talk about it now

In Ticino and the neighbouring valleys we know well that a road can close overnight. The floods of summer 2024 in the Valle Maggia and the Mesolcina cut off entire villages and interrupted transport, water and power. In the winter of 2022-2023 the Confederation spoke openly about the risk of an electricity shortage, and for the first time in decades many families wondered what they had in the cellar.

Then the tension eased, and attention faded with it. That's natural: nobody likes thinking about emergencies. But the right time to build up supplies is precisely when you don't need them, calmly, without queues at the supermarket and empty shelves.

There is a less obvious reason too. The more we depend on digital systems, the more a technical fault or a cyberattack can affect daily life: payments, communications, shop logistics. I wrote about this in the article on the wave of cyberattacks in Switzerland. Supplies at home are, above all, a way of buying time.

What the Confederation says

The official guidance comes from the Federal Office for National Economic Supply (FONES), under an easy-to-remember slogan: Emergency supplies, for any eventuality. In short:

• water: at least 9 litres per person;
• food: long-life food for about a week;
• essentials: a battery radio, a torch, batteries, candles and matches, a way of cooking without electricity, medicines, hygiene items and some cash.

The FONES website also offers a calculator that produces a personalised list based on the number of people, their ages and dietary needs. The Federal Office for Civil Protection, through the Alertswiss emergency plan, covers the other half of the picture: what to do if you have to leave home.

One detail that is often overlooked: not everything falls on households. Large importers and distributors of essential goods are required by law to keep compulsory stocks for several months. Household supplies are meant to cover the first few days, while distribution reorganises.

Water comes first

If you remember only one thing from this article, make it this. You can last a long time without food. Without water, you can't.

The recommended 9 litres equals a pack of six 1.5-litre bottles per person. That covers drinking and cooking for about three days. It does not cover washing, dishes or flushing the toilet, and this is where almost everyone underestimates the problem.

A few practical tips:

• Still mineral water in bottles is the simplest solution: it keeps for months and can be rotated through normal use.
• For hygiene and the toilet you can keep jerrycans filled with tap water, changed periodically. A bucket of water poured into the bowl does the same job as flushing.
• If a problem is announced, such as a violent storm or an alert, fill the bath, pans and empty bottles straight away. It is the cheapest supply there is.
• Count your pets too: a medium-sized dog will happily drink a litre a day.

A note for anyone living in a house with its own well or spring: after a flood the water may be contaminated even if it looks clear. In those cases, follow your municipality's instructions.

Food: a pantry, not a bunker

Food supplies don't have to be a mountain of military rations. The most sensible idea is a pantry that rotates: buy a little more of what you already eat, use the oldest first and replace it with new stock. That way nothing expires at the back of a cupboard.

What to choose, in practice:

• Staples: pasta, rice, instant polenta, oats, dried or tinned pulses, flour, sugar, salt, oil.
• Ready to eat without cooking: tinned tuna, meat, pulses and vegetables, hard cheese, dried fruit, crispbread, chocolate, UHT milk or long-life plant drinks.
• For morale: coffee, tea, a few sweets. It's not a luxury. Anyone who has lived through a few days of emergency knows how much a hot cup of coffee matters.
• Special needs: baby food, food for intolerances or medical diets, pet food.

During a blackout the order is always the same: first eat what's in the fridge, then the freezer, which keeps cold for one or two days if left closed, and only at the end open the long-life supplies.

And a manual tin opener. It sounds like a joke, but it is the most forgotten item on every list.

Cooking and keeping warm without power

Common sense is needed here, because mistakes can be serious.

The official Swiss list mentions, with a very local touch, a fondue burner alongside a camping gas stove and a grill. All are useful for heating soup or boiling water, but with strict rules:

• Never use a charcoal or gas grill indoors, not even in a garage with the door ajar. It produces carbon monoxide, an odourless gas that kills in your sleep.
• Camping stoves and fondue burners should be used for short periods, in a well-ventilated room, away from curtains and flammable materials.
• Candles are useful but dangerous: never leave them burning unattended or near children. A good head torch and a few battery lamps are better.

For the cold, the most effective strategy is the oldest one: gather in a single room, close the doors, cover the windows with heavy curtains, dress in layers and use blankets and sleeping bags. Anyone with a wood stove and a stock of dry wood starts at an advantage, provided the stove and flue are in good order.

Information and communication: radio is back in fashion

In a serious emergency, the first thing you run short of is not food but information. What is happening? How long will it last? What are the authorities saying?

The Federal Office for Civil Protection is clear: a battery-powered DAB+ radio, with spare batteries, is an essential part of every household's supplies. The reason is simple: radio works largely independently of the internet, wifi and the mobile network. The Confederation operates a system of emergency transmitters that uses the national networks of the SRG, which in Ticino means RSI Rete Uno, and can reach cellars and shelters.

Two practical tips:

• Test the radio now, not during the emergency. Many DAB+ sets also receive FM, but you need to know how to switch between them.
• Install the Alertswiss app on your phone. All official messages are also published there, as long as the network works.

For your phone you need a charged power bank and, if you have a car, a cigarette-lighter charger. In a blackout, keep phone use to a minimum: no videos, low brightness, power-saving mode.

Medicines and first aid

Anyone who takes medication regularly should always have at least an extra week's supply on hand. Don't wait until you're down to the last box before going back to the pharmacy.

According to Alertswiss, a first aid kit should contain at least disinfectant, dressings, painkillers, a thermometer and a few masks. Add whatever your family needs: medicines for children, for allergies, spare glasses.

An important point: iodine tablets, which come up in the news from time to time, should be taken only on explicit instructions from the authorities, never on your own initiative.

Cash and documents

In a blackout, card terminals go dark and cash machines stop working. Keeping some cash in small notes and coins at home lets you buy essentials in the shops that stay open.

How much? There is no official figure that applies to everyone. The rule of thumb: enough for a few days of essential spending, not so much that it becomes a security risk.

Important documents (identity cards, passports, insurance policies, medical records, contracts) should be kept in a single folder that is easy to grab. A digital copy kept somewhere safe doesn't hurt.

If you have to leave home: the emergency bag

Supplies in the cellar are for staying put. But there are situations, such as a flood, a landslide, a fire or a gas leak, in which you have to get out fast. That is why the Alertswiss emergency plan also suggests preparing an emergency bag, ready to go:

• a charged phone and power bank;
• identity documents and wallet;
• personal medication;
• food and water for one day;
• if there's time: a change of clothes, a first aid kit, the folder of important documents.

And before the bag comes agreement within the family: where to meet if the phone networks are down, who picks the children up from school, which relative or friend can put you up for a few days. Alertswiss recommends choosing two meeting points, one near home and one further away. It seems a detail, until you need it.

The most common mistakes

Years of work have taught me that plans almost always fail because of small details, not big errors. Emergency supplies are no different:

• Buying everything at once and forgetting about it. Three years later half the supplies have expired. Rotation is better.
• Thinking only about food. Water, light, information and medicines matter more.
• Stockpiling food nobody eats. An emergency is not the moment to discover the children won't touch tinned lentils.
• Never testing the equipment. The radio with no batteries, the stove with no cartridge, the torch that won't switch on.
• Forgetting pets, babies and the elderly.
• Overdoing it. Emptying the shelves out of fear isn't preparation: it's panic, and it penalises others. Remember the images of supermarkets stormed at the start of the pandemic. Supplies built up calmly, a little at a time, avoid exactly that.

Don't forget your neighbours

There is one thing no list mentions, but which often makes the difference: the people around you. An elderly neighbour living alone, a family with a newborn, someone without a car. Alertswiss suggests talking about it beforehand, simply: knowing who might need help and how to reach them.

In the 2024 floods, as in many other emergencies, much of the help in the first hours came from neighbours. It is the oldest form of preparation, and you can't buy it at the supermarket.

The printable checklist

Once a year, perhaps in February, when Switzerland tests its general alarm sirens, check expiry dates, batteries and equipment. It makes a good reminder.

Main sources: Federal Office for National Economic Supply (FONES), "Emergency supplies" leaflet and online calculator; Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP), guidance on radio in emergencies; Alertswiss, emergency plan; RSI, report on household supplies and compulsory stocks.