Boston Emergency Kit — Personalized for Your Risks

Local Hazard History

Boston's defining hazard is the nor'easter — a coastal storm that can bury the metro in snow, flood the harbor, and cut power for days. The Blizzard of 1978 (February 6–7) dropped 27.1 inches on the city in roughly 32 hours, stranded about 3,000 cars and 500 trucks on Route 128, and killed 29 people in Massachusetts — several from carbon-monoxide poisoning in cars buried with their engines running. Decades later, the winter of 2014–2015 became the snowiest season ever recorded in Boston at 110.6 inches, with 64.8 inches in February 2015 alone, collapsing roofs and shutting the MBTA for days. And on January 4, 2018, a 'bomb cyclone' pushed Boston Harbor to 15.16 feet — the highest tide ever recorded (surpassing the 1978 record) — sending ice-choked seawater into the Seaport and downtown streets. In Boston the threat is wind, snow, and water, often at once.

When Risk Peaks

• Nov–Mar: Nor'easter and blizzard season; the heaviest, most disruptive storms cluster January–February
• Dec–Feb: Arctic outbreaks bring dangerous cold and wind chill on top of the snow
• Storm + high tide: Coastal flooding peaks when a nor'easter lands on an astronomical high tide, as it did in January 2018
• Aug–Oct: Tail of hurricane season — New England occasionally takes a tropical storm or hurricane remnant

What to Pack for Boston

Boston preparedness is built around being snowed in, cold, and sometimes flooded all at once:

• 3–7 days of water, food, and medications for blizzards that shut the MBTA and close the roads
• A plan to stay warm without power — layers and blankets; never run a generator or grill indoors (carbon monoxide killed several in the '78 blizzard)
• A battery or hand-crank NOAA weather radio for blizzard, wind-chill, and coastal-flood warnings
• Flashlights, portable chargers, and a manual can opener for multi-day outages
• If you're in a coastal or Seaport-area flood zone, keep documents and valuables up high and know your evacuation route
• A winter kit in your car — blanket, food, shovel, traction — and keep the tailpipe clear if you get stuck

Local Resources

• City of Boston Emergency Management — City preparedness guidance and the AlertBoston notification system.
• Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) — Statewide preparedness, winter-storm safety, and disaster recovery.
• NWS Boston/Norton — Local forecasts, blizzard and coastal-flood warnings for eastern Massachusetts.