Northern Australia is one of the most cyclone prone regions in the world. If you live within 50km of our northern coastline and you don’t have a cyclone kit prepared, this article is for you. After this quick read you’ll know exactly what to put in your Cyclone Kit to stay safe during our summer of cyclones up north. Whether you’re headed to a shelter, evacuating or hunkering down at home – we’ve got your covered with a simple checklist to help you prepare.

What to put in a Cyclone Kit – TL;DR

This is going to be a five minute read on exactly what supplies and equipment you should have at the ready during cyclone season.

It’s easy to pull together a Cyclone kit. Here’s what you’re going to need:

1. An Essential Go Bag kit (using this Essential Go Bag Checklist will save you hours of prep)
2. The supplementary items listed in our Cyclone Kit (below).

That’s it!

Down below we’ll go through the additional items you’ll need just for cyclones.

Why prepare a Cyclone Kit?

Cyclones in Australia’s north are getting stronger

Tropical cyclones in Australia are severe. The Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre estimates over 200 people are estimated to have died in cyclones in Australia, since 1970.

Cyclones up north are also getting worse. With a warming climate, there is more moisture in our atmosphere. Our oceans are also hotter. This creates the perfect conditions for stronger and more destructive cyclones.

Climate scientists from CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology say we face more Category 4 and 5 cyclones in northern Australia, with changing climate systems.

Cyclones are also characteristically unpredictable. They can change direction quickly. They can also speed up (get or slow down rather quickly.

More dangerous and unpredictable cyclones patterns mean it’s time to get serious about being prepared. If you live with 50km of the coast in Northern Australia, this means you. But even travellers can get caught up in cyclones.

What are risks do you face in a Cyclone?

Cyclones come with extreme damaging winds, intense rain, storm surge and often darkness. Here’s a more detailed read if you want to know exactly what happens during a cyclone.

Having the right supplies and equipment ready can help you deal with these cyclone risks:

• direct exposure to cyclonic conditions, due to severe damage to your home
• poor vision due to darkness, wind and rain
• frightening roaring, cracking, howling and breaking sounds – like a plane taking off or a train coming through
• physical injury – from broken glass, flying debris, downed powerlines and other hazards.
• almost certain loss of essential services – power, water, road access
• destruction of assets and property.

Knowing these physical risks helps you prepare well for a cyclone, no matter what category it is.

What to put in a Cyclone Kit in Australia

The expert advice to survive a cyclone is to get prepared and get to safety. We’re going to help you with the first, so you can take care of the second without freaking out too much. Because believe me, cyclones can be scary as all getup.

Before a cyclone – most likely at a BOM ‘Cyclone Watch’ advisory – you may need to make a decision about whether you:

1. Evacuate to a cyclone shelter,
2. Leave the danger zone entirely, or
3. Stay at home and hunker down.

This is a really important decision. Because it determines how and what you need to prepare, to get through a cyclone. So think about this now.

Where will you go if a cyclone is headed your way?

Ideally, your Cyclone Kit should prepare you for all three of these scenarios. To evacuate. To flee. Or to shelter in place. Because sometimes even the best laid plans don’t come to pass.

And you don’t want to be stuck in a scenario you hadn’t planned for in the middle of a Cat 4 or Cat 5 cyclone.

1. Evacuating to a Cyclone Shelter – pack your Go Bag first

A basic evacuation kit is the first thing you need to prepare for any emergency, including a cyclone. It forms the base of any survival kit.

Evacuation kits are also called Go Bags or Grab and Go bags. They are designed to last for several days (minimum 3). Their purpose is to help you get safely to an evacuation centre or or other place of shelter. Like a cyclone shelter.

A paired down kit such as a Go Bag is sufficient for a cyclone shelter because the scary bit of cyclones really only lasts up to 24 hours.

Some cyclone shelters can also be short on room, with strict criteria about what you can and can’t bring in. So don’t pack the kitchen sink. Just stick to our basic Go Bag list if you’re headed to a shelter.

The best thing about starting with a Go Bag is that you can easily tailor it to make it the perfect Cyclone Kit, if need be.

What to pack in an Emergency Go Bag

Your Grab and Go Gag is a generic evacuation kit that covers the basics for human survival – water, food, warmth, light, communications.

It doesn’t typically  provide for temporary shelter, sleeping or basic sanitation. You won’t find toilet paper, blankets, tents or other necessities in a Go Bag.

This is because an Evacuation Centre will likely have these things prepared for you.

Here is a short list of Grab and Go Bag essentials:

• Drinking water
• Ready-made, high protein, non-perishable food – it has to be easy to open and eat without preparation. The higher the protein, the less hungry you’ll feel. Food like jerky, muesli bars, protein bars, nuts and dried fruit are great.
• Mini first aid kit
• Your wallet, bank cards, cash and spare house and car keys
• Your mobile phone and chargers
• Important hard copy documents like your passport, marriage certificates and emergency contact numbers
• A USB with other critical documents on it – your insurance policy for example
• A battery powered radio with extra batteries
• A torch with spare batteries.
• spare clothes
• Simple toiletries
• Tools

This is just the start. The full Go Bag Essentials Checklist is available to download for free.

The good thing about packing a Go Bag is that you can use it in any emergency. But it’s not designed specifically for cyclones.

There are some items you must add to to your Go Bag, to make it into a Cyclone Kit that you can use to hunker down at home or flee the danger zone.

Let’s look at these now.

Hunkering down at home – must have Cyclone Kit items

So you’ve decided to see the cyclone out in your own home (only do this if your home is cyclone rated or you have no choice). Or maybe you’re going head out of the cyclone danger zone entirely.

The good news is, If you’ve already packed an Emergency Go Bag, it’s just a matter of adding the items on the list below to your kit.

Everything below is a SUPPLEMENT to your Emergency Go Bag.

Add the items you need, depending on your specific situation (your family make up, housing situation, location and the risks you face).

Some of the items in our Cyclone Kit list belong inside your Go Bag. These will help if you need to evacuate.

Other items in our Cyclone kit – the ‘household essentials’ – are to store home. These will help when essential services like power and water are cut off. They will also help if you are stranded (roads are blocked with debris) without access to food and medical supplies.

Packing your Cyclone Kit

Hunkering down at home in the path of a Category 4 or Category 5 cyclone means you have to level up your preparedness. A LOT!

You need to be confident that you can prepare your home and get yourself and your family through the ordeal. The right planning, preparation and Cyclone Kit can help you make it through safe and sound.

Food and cooking

Whether you include food and cooking provisions is down to your circumstances. We pack it because of the extended power outages that go hand in hand with big weather events like cyclones.

Cyclones in Queensland can knock out the power grid for days and sometimes weeks. If you’re at risk, prepare not just for the 24 hours during a cyclone but also for it’s aftermath.

If you’re heading to an cyclone centre, you may not need to bring all of your own food. But it’s still a good idea to have food and water provisions at home, and the means to make them into a meal or two.

1. Camp stove
2. Dehydrated/freeze dried meals
3. Canned food and can opener
4. Freeze dried vegetables, seasonings, salt and pepper
5. Water for cooking
6. Camp cook pot
7. Eating utensils
8. MREs (Meals ready to eat).

Medication and toiletries

1. Full first aid kit and manual – the risk of physical injury in a cyclone is real due to the destructive winds. Make sure your first aid kit has plenty of gauze, bandages and antiseptic.
2. Wet wipes. These come in handy for personal hygiene if water supplies are cut off.
3. Spare toilet rolls.

Warmth and sleep

1. Lightweight water proof tarp
2. Telescoping tarp poles
3. Cordage
4. Sleeping bags

Tarps, cordage and poles are more for after the cyclone than during it. If your roof is blown off in the cyclone, or a tree (or other missile) comes crashing through it, these items will help you stay dry afterwards.

You can also use them to protect yourself from flying glass and other missiles if all hell breaks loose at home.

If you’re heading to a cyclone shelter, you won’t need a tent, cords or tarps. But a sleeping bag is still a good idea, depending on space restrictions. And at least you’ll now what you’re sleeping in is clean.

Lighting

Your Go Bag will already have a torch, headlamp and batteries in it. Consider these for back up lighting or space lighting at home.

1. Waterproof matches
2. Candles
3. Glow sticks

Tools and storage

1. Zip ties
2. Waterproof bags / Zip lock bags – to store electronics, documents, jewellery
3. Bivy sack
4. Multi tool – swiss army knife
5. Whistle to attract attention if you’re stuck under debris in a worse case scenario.

Personal Protection

1. Long sleeved pants and shirt – to protect yourself from flying glass shards
2. Covered shoes – preferably waterproof boots
3. Protective leather work gloves.
4. Sunscreen
5. Insect repellant
6. Duct tape – to repair holes and tears
7. Raincoat or poncho

Household essentials

Here are household items to prepare for a cyclone:

1. Buckets and mops – to clean up water leaks, store water and flush the toilet if the water is cut off.
2. Dustpan and brush – to sweep up broken glass.
3. Old towels – to seal windows and protect from broken glass
4. A generator – if extended power outages are likely in your area.
5. Water tank with pump – for water supply if town water is interrupted.
6. An esky, in case you can get to ice and save some of the food in your freezer in the aftermath.

Special items

Survival kits are personal. They should always be customised to your individual needs, and those of your family. Think about your family make-up when you pack.

You may need to include some special items like:

• provisions for pets – dogs especially become frightened in cyclones and often run off. Prepare somewhere safe for your furry friends to stay as well as food, bowls, crates, leads and a comfort toy.
• medical aids for the elderly
• food supply dietary needs – allergies, celiacs, vegans
• prescription medicines
• playing cards, toys, games or other comfort supplies for children. Headphones are great to distract kids from the frightening noises cyclones make.

You can download the full Cyclone Kit Checklist in pdf. It’s completely free. No sign ups needed!

3. Fleeing the cyclone danger zone

Cyclone’s have a danger zone – or expect path – once they cross the coast. The BOM usually publishes this during a Cyclone Watch advisory.

If you’re in the danger zone and don’t have adequate shelter, you may chose to evacuate.

If you are driving out of the cyclone’s path, the advice of authorities is always to go early. Leave yourself plenty of time to get to safety. Remembering of course that cyclones can change path and be upgraded or downgraded at any time.

Because of the unpredictability of cyclones, we’d prepare a full a Cyclone Kit to take with you in this scenario. The same kit as you’d have at home, minus the ‘household essentials’.

6 steps you can take today, to prepare for cyclones

Cyclone survival comes down to good preparation and getting to safety early.

Here are the 6 key take aways from our experts on how to prepare for cyclones up north:

1. Know what the BOM cyclone warning system means and follow local alerts on the TV and in the BOM app.
2. Decide beforehand what you will do at each stage – head to a shelter, flee or hunker down at home.
3. Prepare a Cyclone Kit – use this checklist to save time on what to put in it.
4. Prepare your home and your family members for cyclone season.
5. Act early to stay safe if in a cyclone warning situation.

To get the full run down, check out this post on How to prepare for cyclones in Australia.

Conclusion

If you live in a cyclone zone or have just moved to one, summer preparedness is critical. Part and parcel of enjoying our beautiful north is knowing what to do in a cyclone, and having everything you need to get through. Start out with a Go Bag if you’re heading to a Cyclone Shelter when the SHTF. This Cyclone kit includes all of the equipment you need to ride out the storm safely – whether that’s at home or evacuating the cyclone zone. So what are you waiting for!