Your Two-Week Solar Storm Prep Checklist (Priority Order)
Updated: Sep 11
Includes a household planning worksheet. No email signup is required.
Preparedness starts with your household’s needs, not a fixed shopping order. This guide uses two weeks as a practical goal for building supplies gradually, not as a predicted outage length. Address immediate medical and accessibility needs first. The same basics can help during many kinds of power and communications disruption.
Layer 1 - Safe water
CDC recommends at least one US gallon per person per day for at least three days, with a two-week supply if possible. Fourteen days means 14 gallons per person, plus additional needs for heat, illness, pregnancy and pets. Use food-grade containers and replace self-filled stored water every six months; follow bottled-water expiration dates. If disinfection is necessary, follow the complete EPA instructions for the water conditions and bleach concentration. Boiling and disinfection do not remove fuel, heavy metals, salts or most chemicals. A household filter does not make every water source safe.
Layer 2 - Food and a way to cook it
Start with shelf-stable foods your household already eats, including some that need no cooking. Account for allergies, special diets and any water needed for preparation. Rotate supplies and keep a manual can opener. Freeze-dried food is optional. Use outdoor-rated camp stoves only outdoors, following their instructions and local fire restrictions.
Layer 3 - Backup power and light
Start with charged power banks and battery lights. Size larger backup batteries from measured essential loads, required runtime, inverter losses and appliance startup demand. Solar charging depends on weather and input limits; it does not guarantee a week of power. Test your setup, especially for medical equipment.
Layer 4 - Communications and navigation
A receiver with NOAA Weather Radio capability can receive local broadcasts where coverage is available; a hand crank alone does not establish that capability or automatic alerting. Check reception, alert features and backup batteries. Keep another official information source and printed maps. In the US, compliant FRS radios need no individual license; GMRS use must be covered by a valid license, and amateur transmitting generally requires a licensed control operator. Terrain and buildings limit handheld range.
Layer 5 - Sanitation and hygiene
Plan for safe sanitation before water or sewer service stops. Keep soap, safe handwashing water, toilet paper, gloves and a covered emergency toilet or commercial waste-bag system. Follow local public-health instructions for waste storage and disposal; do not assume bags belong in ordinary trash. Do not add bleach to collected toilet waste or mix cleaning chemicals. Clean surfaces according to the disinfectant label and wash hands after handling waste.
Layer 6 - Protect backups and understand the hazard
Keep spare devices dry, charged as appropriate, and separate from equipment in daily use. Geomagnetic storms chiefly threaten long conductors and infrastructure. Specialist shielding against a nuclear EMP's fast E1 component is a different problem. A radio losing reception inside a container does not prove EMP protection; a Faraday bag is not a substitute for an outage plan.
Layer 7 - Cash, documents, and medical
Keep some cash, protected paper copies of essential contacts, IDs, insurance and prescriptions, a first-aid kit and spare glasses if needed. Ask your pharmacist or clinician about medication reserves, storage temperatures and refill limits. For powered medical equipment, follow manufacturer backup requirements and arrange an alternative place to receive care if backup power will not cover the outage.
Layer 8 - Tools, warmth, and the people (and pets) who depend on you
Keep suitable tools, work gloves, a fire extinguisher, warm clothing and blankets. Include infant supplies and pets’ food, water and medicines. Follow officials on evacuation or sheltering; sealing a room is not routine power-outage guidance. Keep outdoor-rated cooking equipment outdoors. Operate portable fuel-burning generators outside, more than 20 feet from doors, windows and vents, with exhaust directed away from buildings; use working carbon-monoxide alarms.
Layer 9 - The plan
Write a household communication plan with an out-of-area contact, meeting places and accessible copies of essential information. Practice it together and review it regularly, especially when contacts, equipment or household needs change.
During the event
Follow local officials and your utility. During an outage, disconnect nonessential appliances when safe to reduce problems when power returns. Do not interrupt essential medical equipment without its prescribed backup plan. Keep fridge and freezer doors closed, use battery lighting and monitor official broadcasts. Check on neighbors when safe. A geomagnetic storm does not imply that disconnected portable electronics or vehicles will all stop working.
Keep the plan practical
Start with a written household plan and immediate medical needs, then build water, food, power, communications and sanitation supplies in affordable steps. Review supplies and practice the plan regularly. Outage resilience is the priority; specialist shielding is a separate choice.
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Sources and review
Fact and terminology review: September 17, 2026. Scientific and preparedness claims were checked against the linked sources. Product ownership and performance are not inferred from this review.
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