Be Emergency Ready: Preparedness Booklet To Be Delivered To Every Cork Household

Every home in Cork will receive a Government emergency preparedness booklet over the coming weeks, setting out how to keep a household going through storms, flooding, power outages and other disruptions.

The Be Emergency Ready booklet is published by the Department of Defence's Office of Emergency Planning, on behalf of the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning, supported by Local Government Ireland. Cork County Council said in a social media post that the booklet launches on 21 September 2026 and will be delivered to every household in the country.

The national campaign was launched on 28 August 2026 by the Minister for Defence, Helen McEntee TD, at the newly refurbished Meath Civil Defence facility in Navan. The Department said every household in Ireland will receive the booklet by post from the end of September.

Helen McEntee TD, Minister for Defence:

"Across Ireland, we have experienced storms, flooding, power outages and other emergencies that remind us of the importance of being prepared. The Be Emergency Ready campaign is about helping people and families take simple actions now so that we are better prepared should disruption occur.

I encourage everyone to take the time to read the booklet when it arrives, work through the checklist, complete the important information section and keep it somewhere easy to find. A small amount of preparation today can make a significant difference tomorrow."

The campaign will also be supported by the local government sector.

Kieran Kehoe, Chief Executive of Meath County Council and Chair of the County and City Management Association's Corporate and Emergency Planning Committee:

"Local authority staff are often the first on the ground during an emergency, and we see at first hand the impact such situations can have on people. This booklet contains common-sense information that will help people to prepare for and respond to emergencies.

We are happy to support the campaign and will also make the booklet available in local authority buildings, libraries, and through the Public Participation Network."

Three Steps

The booklet breaks preparedness down into three steps: be aware, make a plan, and stay connected. Its message is a modest one, and all the better for it: "Do what you can: Some preparation is better than no preparation at all."

Being aware means understanding the kinds of emergencies you might be at risk of, which the booklet gives as events like storms, flooding, cyber attacks and disruptions to critical supply chains. It asks readers to consider how those risks could affect their household, whether their home, town or city is exposed to any risks, and whether they are exposed to the risk more than other people.

The Office of Emergency Planning has also published a fuller list of the risks Ireland faces, covering 22 risks based on the latest National Risk Assessment. They are grouped as natural, civil, transportation and technological. The natural risks are flooding, snow, ice and prolonged low temperatures, and storm.

What The Checklist Asks You To Keep

The checklist covers items a household may need in an emergency where power or water is lost. The Office of Emergency Planning says these items can be built up over time and stored in a safe and dry place, and that you may have many of them in your household already.

On water, each person needs 2 to 3 litres of drinking water each day. Bottled water should be kept in a cool, dark place, and only stored for as long as the expiry date on the bottle.

On food, the advice is to keep a supply of non-perishable food on hand and rotate it so nothing goes past its expiry date. Households are asked to consider the dietary needs of everyone under the roof, including small children and pets, and anyone using baby formula should have an extra supply of ready-to-feed formula available. Fresh food and food kept in the fridge should be used first.

For light and heat, the booklet recommends alternative ways to keep warm such as blankets, sleeping bags and emergency thermal blankets, closing windows and doors and staying in one room for warmth, and keeping a torch or lamp with spare batteries. Matches or a lighter should be kept in a safe place.

Two items on that list are worth doing this week rather than in a crisis. Know the location of your gas and electricity shutoff points and how to turn them off, and note your Meter Point Reference Number (MPRN) and Gas Point Registration Number (GPRN) from your bill. Digging out a bill by torchlight is nobody's idea of a good evening.

On medicine, keep prescription medicines up to date if possible, keep copies of your prescriptions and details of any medical conditions, and have a first aid kit ready. Sanitary and hygiene products should be kept for everyone in the household.

To stay connected, the booklet suggests a battery, wind-up or solar radio with spare batteries, or a car radio as a backup, along with power banks for recharging phones. It also advises listening to local radio to stay up to date on conditions, which is sound advice in a county where local stations have carried a fair share of storm nights.

Important documents should be kept in a waterproof bag, including birth certificates, passports and driving licences, insurance details and medical information, and emergency contacts. The booklet also suggests strong plastic bags for valuables and sentimental items, a road map in case GPS is unavailable, and spare keys for home and car.

If You Need To Leave Home

If you have to evacuate, take medication and hygiene items, warm and waterproof clothing, your mobile phone and charger, personal identification and key documents, and cash and debit or credit cards if possible.

The booklet asks householders to identify what they would need to take if they had to leave home, to complete the final pages of the booklet, keep them safe and save a photo of them on their phone, and to always cooperate with instructions from emergency services and local authorities. Having a written plan can be helpful, especially in situations where phones, internet or electricity are not available.

Emergency Contacts

In an emergency, dial 112 or 999. The emergency operator will ask which emergency service you need and connect you with them immediately. The Office of Emergency Planning also advises that you can text 112 if you are unable to make a voice call.

Keep your phone on, as the emergency services may need to call you back to get more information. In a medical emergency, continue to monitor the person's condition and call back if it changes.

Make sure all members of your household know your Eircode. You can find yours at eircode.ie.

The booklet's contact page arrives with three numbers already filled in: ESB Networks on LoCall 1800 372 999, Uisce Éireann on LoCall 1800 278 278, and Gas Networks Ireland on LoCall 1800 20 50 50. Space is left for your local authority, local Garda station, doctor, and insurance company and policy number.

It also carries one important warning. You can turn the water and electricity back on yourself, but not the gas supply, which must be done by a qualified engineer.

Looking Out For Each Other

The booklet places real weight on community, noting that support can be something as simple as checking in on a family member, neighbour or friend, if it is safe to do so.

It also suggests talking to your neighbours to discuss how you might work together and share information and resources, keeping the contact details of any local community groups in your area, and considering learning some basic first aid skills.

For Cork households, none of this is abstract. The county has had its share of nights when the lights went out and the water stopped, and the guidance that follows a storm is invariably easier to act on when the torch, the radio and the phone numbers are already where you left them. The campaign's what to do page is also available on gov.ie.

The booklet is available now at gov.ie/BeEmergencyReady, where the checklist and the important contact numbers card can also be downloaded and printed. Copies can be obtained by emailing oep@defence.ie or by writing to the Office of Emergency Planning, National Emergency Coordination Centre, Agriculture House (2 East), Kildare Street, Dublin 2.

The booklet's own closing advice is worth following: "Once you have read this booklet, put it somewhere safe in case you need it."