Help keep your family safe by testing your smoke alarms and practicing your fire escape drill.

• Working smoke alarms can cut the risk of dying in a home fire by half.
• Make sure you have smoke alarms on every level of your home.
• If smoke alarms are 10 years or older, replace them.
• Practice your home fire escape drill with everyone in your household until they can get out in less than two minutes!

Home Fire Escape Plans

Use these guides to help begin your fire escape plan:

• Single Family Home »
  
• Multi-Family Home »
  
• High-Rise Apartment Complex »
  
• Use this printable worksheet to plan and practice home fire drills »
  
  

More Home Fire Safety information and resources

Flooding is a temporary overflow of water onto land that is normally dry. Floods can result from rain, snow, coastal storms, storm surges, overflows of rivers, and dam failure. Floods can be dangerous. People die by drowning when they don’t evacuate before floodwaters come or when they enter floodwaters. Floods can damage buildings and roads, cause power outages, and create landslides.

Understand Your Flood Risk

• Learn about the types of flooding that can impact your home and community. Types of flooding include flash floods, river floods, storm surges, coastal floods, burn scars, debris flows, ice/debris jams, snowmelt, dry wash, dam breaks, and levee failures.
• Reach out to your local office of emergency management for advice.
• Know your home and community’s flood risk. Visit the FEMA Flood Map Service Center and search for your home using your address.

Make Plans to Stay Safe

• Flash floods can be sudden and violent. You may have little to no warning. Designate a place on higher ground that you can get to quickly. Plan to move to higher ground before flooding begins.
• River floods: Know if you are in an area that is prone to river floods. Review your evacuation plan so that you can leave quickly if officials advise you to evacuate.
• Storm surge: Be prepared to evacuate immediately if local officials advise. A storm surge can cause water levels to rise quickly and flood large areas in just minutes.
• Coastal flooding: Be prepared to evacuate immediately if local officials advise. Move inland before flooding begins.

Flood Safety Checklist

More Flood Safety