Michigan State of Emergency: Family Preparedness Guide
If you've seen headlines about a "Michigan state of emergency" this month, here's what actually happened: on September 16, 2026, Michigan State Police publicly urged every family in the state to complete a written Family Emergency Plan. That's part of Governor Whitmer's September 2026 Preparedness Month proclamation, not a new statewide emergency declaration. That distinction doesn't make the reminder any less worth acting on. Michigan has already issued real, formally declared states of emergency earlier this year after severe winter weather and spring flooding, and state officials' point is that the next one can affect any county with little warning. This guide covers exactly what the September announcement says, what Michigan State Police are asking families to prepare, and how to build a complete family emergency plan and bug out bag, including a free printable checklist.
Does the Latest Michigan Announcement Declare an Emergency?
No, not this one. On September 16, 2026, Michigan State Police (through the Emergency Management & Homeland Security Division, EMHSD) issued a public reminder asking families statewide to complete a written Family Emergency Plan. It's a preparedness campaign, not a disaster declaration: no county, city, or region was placed under emergency status by this announcement. MSP Director Col. James F. Grady II summarized the reasoning plainly: disasters can impact any Michigan community, at any time, which is why the state wants every household ready before one happens rather than after.
The September push is tied to Governor Whitmer's proclamation of September 2026 as Preparedness Month in Michigan, issued at the start of the month, and it explicitly follows on from a difficult spring: Michigan communities were still recovering from historic severe weather, tornadoes, and flooding earlier in 2026. That's an important distinction to hold onto: the September announcement is awareness messaging building on real events from months ago, not a brand-new emergency in September itself.
What Michigan State Police Want Families to Prepare
MSP/EMHSD frames Michigan preparedness around four steps: know the emergency types that can affect your area, make a family emergency plan, build an emergency supply kit, and get involved in community preparedness. The centerpiece of the September announcement is the Family Emergency Plan, a fill-in-the-blank worksheet covering evacuation routes, a household meeting point, and emergency contact information, available as a free download and print from the state's official MIREADY family preparedness guide.
- Write it down, don't just save it to your phone. Rob Dale of Ingham County Emergency Management, quoted alongside the state's announcement, emphasized keeping both a digital and a physical copy of contacts and instructions: cell service and phone batteries are exactly what an emergency tends to take away first.
- Cover medical and utility contacts, not just family. The official checklist asks for medical providers, insurance contacts, and utility companies, in addition to the usual family and out-of-area contact.
- Plan for scenarios, not just a generic list. Power outages, medication needs, and pet care are called out specifically, which is exactly what the next four sections of this guide walk through.
You can get the state's own official planning worksheet directly: Michigan's Family Preparedness Guide (MIREADY), with additional printable forms on the Printable Resources page. Below, we'll build out a more complete version of the same plan, plus the physical kit that goes with it.
How to Create a Family Emergency Plan
A written family emergency plan is the single highest-leverage thing you can do this week, and it costs nothing. At minimum, it should cover:
- Evacuation routes: a primary route out of your neighborhood and a backup, in case the first is blocked by flooding, downed trees, or traffic
- Meeting places: one close to home (for a sudden local emergency like a fire) and one outside your neighborhood or town (in case you can't get home)
- An out-of-area contact: during a regional emergency, long-distance calls sometimes connect when local lines are jammed; pick one relative or friend outside Michigan everyone checks in with
- Written contact information: medical providers, insurance companies, utility companies, school/work emergency lines, printed on paper, not only saved to a phone
- Household responsibilities: who grabs the kit, who gets the kids or pets, who shuts off utilities, decided in advance so nobody's improvising during the actual event
We cover this in full detail, with a fillable template, in our Family Emergency Plan guide: it takes about 30 minutes to complete for a typical household.
Plan for Power Outages and Medical Needs
Severe weather is Michigan's most common disruption, and the most common consequence of severe weather is losing power, sometimes for days. Before it happens, identify:
- What needs refrigeration. Insulin, certain medications, and infant formula are common examples; know how long they stay safe unrefrigerated and whether you need a backup cooling plan (cooler + ice, or a small battery/solar power bank for a mini fridge)
- What needs power to function. CPAP machines, oxygen concentrators, mobility devices, and medical alert systems all need a backup power plan identified in advance, not figured out mid-outage
- How much of each medication you have on hand. Coordinate with your pharmacist about getting a few extra days' buffer where insurance allows
- A charged, grid-independent way to stay informed. A battery or hand-crank NOAA weather radio keeps working when the power and cell towers don't
For the full breakdown of what to do across a 24-hour, 3-day, and multi-week outage, see our Extended Power Outage Guide.
What to Include in Your Emergency Kit
Michigan State Police recommend a 72-hour supply kit as the practical baseline: enough to get a household through the first three days of an emergency before outside help or resupply is reliably available. Here's a condensed starting checklist:
- Water: 1 gallon per person per day × 3 days minimum
- Ready-to-eat food for 3 days per person
- Manual can opener
- Battery or hand-crank NOAA weather radio
- Flashlight or headlamp + spare batteries per person
- Portable power bank or power station for phones and medical devices
- First aid kit + 7 days of prescription medications
- Emergency blanket or bivy per person
- Seasonal layers: Michigan weather swings hard between winter storms and summer heat
- Whistle, local map, and printed emergency contacts
- Cash in small bills (card readers and ATMs need power too)
- Waterproof pouch for copies of ID, insurance, and other essential documents
- Pet food, water, and supplies, if applicable
For a complete, categorized 75-item version of this list, see our full Bug Out Bag Checklist, and for the food and water math specifically, see Best Emergency Food Supply and Emergency Water Storage Guide.
Free Printable Bug Out Bag Checklist
We updated our checklist PDF: a clean, printable 3-page packing plan covering all 75 items by category, plus a page to assign gear and track your household's route and contacts. No signup required.
Download the Checklist (PDF) →Recommended Gear for Michigan's Risk Mix
Midland WR400 Desktop NOAA Weather Alert Radio
Michigan's biggest recurring risks: severe thunderstorms, tornado warnings, and winter storms: all come with advance warning if you're monitoring the right channel. The Midland WR400 programs to your specific county's SAME code, so it only sounds for warnings that actually apply to you, and it keeps working on battery backup when the power and cell towers go down. It's the single most useful device for the "stay informed" step MSP calls out directly.
- SAME programming for your specific Michigan county
- Battery backup keeps it working through power outages
- Loud alarm wakes you for overnight warnings
EcoFlow River 2 Portable Power Station (256Wh)
This is the practical answer to the "backup power for medical needs" step: it won't run a refrigerator, but it will keep phones, medical alert systems, CPAP machines, and small devices running through a multi-day outage, and it recharges fully from AC power in under an hour whenever the grid comes back briefly. At under $250, it's an accessible entry point before considering a larger whole-home setup.
- 256Wh capacity: enough for phones, lights, and small medical devices
- Full recharge from AC in under an hour
- Under $250: realistic starting point for most households
SOL Emergency Bivvy: Compact Reflective Emergency Blanket
Michigan winters make an emergency blanket a genuine safety item, not an afterthought: this reflects up to 90% of body heat, packs smaller than a soda can, and costs less than $20, making it easy to keep one per household member in the kit and one in each vehicle for a winter-storm stranding scenario.
- Reflects up to 90% of body heat
- Packs down to the size of a soda can
- Cheap enough to keep one per person, plus one per vehicle
Include Pets and Important Documents in Your Plan
Two categories are easy to forget when you're focused on food, water, and power, and both are explicitly part of Michigan's official checklist:
- Pets: pack pet food and water for the same duration as your human supplies, a leash or carrier, a spare collar with ID, vaccination records, and any medications. Know in advance which nearby shelters or hotels are pet-friendly, since not all evacuation shelters accept animals. Michigan's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development publishes a dedicated Pet Emergency Go-Kit Checklist worth pairing with your own.
- Documents: keep copies of ID, insurance policies, medical records, and property records in a waterproof, portable pouch, not just the original in a filing cabinet at home. Photograph the interior and exterior of your home for insurance purposes before anything happens. See our Safeguarding Important Documents guide for a full checklist and our Best Waterproof Document Bags comparison for storage options.
Where to Check Michigan Emergency Alerts and Declarations
Conditions change quickly, and this article can't stay current in real time, so use the official sources directly for anything current:
- Statewide declarations: Michigan State Police EMHSD's Status of Current Emergencies page is the official record of any active statewide disaster or emergency declaration, with a history at Current and Past Disasters.
- Your specific county: contact your county's Emergency Management office directly; county-level advisories (boil-water notices, local evacuations, road closures) don't always rise to a statewide declaration but matter just as much to you.
- Real-time weather alerts: the National Weather Service office covering your part of Michigan, or a NOAA weather radio programmed to your county's SAME code (see the recommended radio above).
Frequently Asked Questions
What should a family emergency plan include?
At minimum: a primary and backup evacuation route, a nearby meeting place plus an out-of-town meeting place, an out-of-area emergency contact, written (not just phone-saved) contact information for medical providers, insurance, and utilities, a plan for medication and medical devices, a plan for pets, and assigned responsibilities for each household member. See our full Family Emergency Plan guide for a fillable version.
Where can I download Michigan's official family preparedness checklist?
Michigan State Police's official worksheet is available free at michigan.gov/miready/family-preparedness-guide, with additional printable forms on their Printable Resources page. For the physical kit and packing side, we also offer a free, no-signup-required printable Bug Out Bag Checklist (PDF).
How do I check whether my county is affected by a state of emergency?
Check Michigan State Police EMHSD's Status of Current Emergencies page for any active statewide declaration, and contact your county's Emergency Management office directly for county-specific advisories that may not appear at the state level. For real-time weather-driven alerts, monitor the National Weather Service office covering your area or a NOAA weather radio programmed to your county.