No matter where you live, extreme weather can hit your area and change your life. Whether it’s a hurricane, winter storm, flash flood, tornado, wildfire, or heat wave, disasters can damage or destroy your home and property, cause lengthy power outages, and stall civic services. Grist created a comprehensive guide to help you stay ready and informed before, during, and after these traumatic and chaotic events, as well as where to find and build support in your community. We list the most accurate weather updates and emergency alerts, explain the roles different agencies play in disaster aid, and provide details on your rights. 

We gathered need-to-know information from government websites, trusted nonprofits and community organizations, and news media. It’s all fact-checked and will be updated periodically. Have something to add? Reach out: community@grist.org.

The resources above were made to help you quickly sift through urgent information. They’re easy to load if you have little cell service or download as a PDF for offline reading if a storm knocks out power.

Everything on this page is available for republication and/or translation with credit to Grist and the author. The republishing link is located at the bottom left of each guide. We encourage you to adapt these, adding contact information, instructions, and updates for your town, state, or tribal nation.