Calculate the exact supplies needed to shelter in place for 1 week through 3 months — covering water, food, power, sanitation, medications, and mental health for your whole household.
Shelter-in-place means staying in your home rather than evacuating, often due to severe weather, air quality emergencies, civil unrest, or public health situations. Unlike a bug out scenario, you have access to your full home infrastructure — but that infrastructure may be disrupted. This calculator generates a tiered supply list based on your household size, duration, and shelter reason.
Shelter-in-place preparedness is fundamentally different from bug-out preparedness. When you shelter in place, you're leveraging the resources of your home — its structure, storage capacity, and fixed systems — instead of what you can carry on your back. This allows for much larger supply stores but also creates its own vulnerabilities if those home systems (water, power, HVAC) become disrupted.
The tiered approach to shelter-in-place planning mirrors the LDS "layers" concept: build supplies in stages, starting with the first week, then extending to two weeks, then a month, then three months. Each tier requires progressively more planning and storage, but each tier also significantly increases your resilience against disruptions that would overwhelm neighbors and compete for emergency resources.
Extended shelter-in-place situations — especially those lasting weeks or months — create significant psychological stress, particularly for children. Maintaining routines, having structured activities, and preserving normalcy as much as possible are genuinely important preparedness elements. Include books, board games, puzzles, and comfort items alongside food and water in your planning. A 2-week contact plan — knowing how and when you'll communicate with extended family and neighbors — reduces anxiety and enables coordinated mutual aid if needed.
An official "shelter in place" order means authorities want you to stay inside your current location rather than evacuate. The specific instructions vary by hazard type. For air quality or chemical emergencies, you may be told to seal windows and doors with plastic sheeting and tape. For severe weather, you go to an interior room away from windows. For civil unrest, you stay inside, away from windows, and avoid drawing attention. Always follow the specific guidance in the emergency alert for your situation — the general principle is the same but the implementation varies.
FEMA recommends a minimum 72-hour kit, but most serious preparedness experts now recommend 2–4 weeks as a practical minimum. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that disruptions to supply chains and services can last months. For most households, 2 weeks of shelter-in-place supplies is achievable without major expense or space commitment. A 3-month supply represents a more serious level of preparedness appropriate for those who live in disaster-prone areas or who want comprehensive resilience.
Only if instructed to do so by emergency authorities, and only for air quality or chemical emergencies. Sealing your home can reduce outdoor air infiltration by 50–90%, which is beneficial if outside air is contaminated with smoke, ash, or chemical hazards. However, a completely sealed home depletes oxygen over time — you can seal for hours but not indefinitely. For most shelter-in-place situations (severe weather, power outages, civil unrest), there is no need to seal windows and doors. Keep plastic sheeting and duct tape in your preparedness supplies but only use them when specifically directed.
At minimum, maintain a 90-day supply of all prescription medications. This requires proactive communication with your doctor — many will prescribe 90-day fills if asked. For over-the-counter medications, stock: pain relievers (ibuprofen and acetaminophen), antihistamines, anti-diarrheal medication, antacids, cold and flu medication, and wound care supplies. If any family member requires refrigerated medications (insulin, biologics), invest in a small medical cooler and discuss emergency protocols with their healthcare provider.
Establish a communication plan before you need it. Designate an out-of-area contact person everyone can report in to — it's often easier to reach someone in another city than neighbors during a local emergency. Agree on check-in times and intervals. Have a written list of key phone numbers since you may not have access to your phone contacts. A battery-powered or hand-crank NOAA weather radio gives official emergency information when cell networks are jammed. Consider two-way radios (FRS/GMRS walkie-talkies) for neighborhood-level communication without cell infrastructure.