Even with advance warning, hurricane Katrina revealed how ill-prepared for disasters the United States is. Unfortunately, the next terrorist attack will not give us five days and an hourly countdown. We attributed this disaster to a failure of government. FEMA and other emergency response organizations state their expected response in days, not hours. Few noticed that FEMAas response to some areas of the disaster, with preparation, was measured in weeks. With a terrorist attack or major natural disaster we could be on our own for weeks. We must be prepared for basic survival for some period of time. This book compiles recommendations from various agencies and identifies the essentials that each family should have in order to survive until emergency aid can arrive.