FEMA is Changing. Does your family have a plan?

Remember when the news was about what happened, not how to feel about it? 1440's Daily Digest is bringing that back. Every morning, they sift through 100+ sources to deliver a concise, unbiased briefing — no pundits, no paywalls, no politics. Just the facts, all in five minutes. For free.

Read the newsletter trusted by 4.5 million fact-seekers.

Try this little experiment. I asked your husband or wife, “If we got separated during an emergency, where would you go?” If she says home and you say something else, that’s a disconnect. But it’s also a problem with an easy fix, and that’s what we’re covering this week.

How to Build a Communication Plan That Fits on an Index Card

Cell networks go down in emergencies. It happens almost every time. Towers get overloaded, power fails, or everyone tries to call at once and the system buckles. If your emergency plan depends entirely on calling or texting your family, you have a gap.

A communication plan doesn’t require radios or special equipment. It starts with a conversation and an index card.

First, pick two meeting places. One should be close to your home, somewhere everyone can walk to within minutes. A neighbor’s driveway, a specific corner, the mailbox by the park entrance. The second should be farther away, outside your immediate neighborhood, in case you can’t get home. A church, a library, a relative’s house. Make sure every family member knows both locations by heart.

Second, designate an out-of-area contact. During a regional event, local calls often fail while long-distance calls go through. Pick a friend or relative in another state. Everyone in the family calls that one person to check in. The contact becomes your message relay.

Third, write it down. Names, phone numbers, meeting spots, the out-of-area contact. Put it on an index card. Every family member carries one in their wallet, backpack, or glovebox. Phones die. Paper doesn’t.

Fourth, agree on a check-in window. If you can’t connect immediately, everyone tries at a set time, say the top of every even hour. This prevents the panic of constant failed calls and gives everyone a rhythm.

If you want to go further, a pair of two-way radios gives you communication within a few miles without any network at all. FRS radios (the kind you buy at any sporting goods store) don’t require a license and work right out of the box. Agree on a channel in advance and keep batteries fresh.

The biggest mistake people make with communication plans is thinking they’ll figure it out in the moment. You won’t. Stress narrows your thinking. A plan you’ve discussed ahead of time, even once, is exponentially better than winging it.

Have the conversation tonight. Write the card this weekend. It takes fifteen minutes and costs nothing.

Write your family communication card.

Grab an index card. Write down two meeting points (one nearby, one farther away), your out-of-area contact’s name and phone number, and a check-in time. Make copies for each family member. Put one in your wallet now. Talk through it briefly at dinner tonight. Fifteen minutes, zero dollars.

Beef Prices Forecast to Rise 9.4% in 2026, Could Hit 16.6%

The USDA’s Economic Research Service published updated food price projections on March 11. Beef leads the increases at 9.4% on average, with a range of flat to 16.6%. Sugar and sweets are projected up 6.7%. Eggs are the outlier—down 22.2% after last year’s spikes. Overall grocery inflation is forecast at 2.5%, slightly below the 20-year average. But tariff negotiations with Canada, the EU, and other trading partners could push prices higher on fruits, vegetables, seafood, and cheese. With oil above $100 and transportation costs climbing, the second half of 2026 carries more uncertainty than these numbers suggest.

Source: USDA ERS, FMI

Mykel Hawke is a former Green Beret Captain who has written extensively about adapting military survival principles for families. In Hawke’s Green Beret Survival Manual, he dedicates significant attention to communication and rally points, concepts borrowed directly from small unit tactics. Hawke’s argument is straightforward: Special Forces teams never operate without a pre-arranged plan for regrouping if they get separated. Your family shouldn’t either. He recommends practicing the plan at least once, not just talking about it. A dry run where you actually drive to your secondary meeting point and walk through the steps with your kids turns an abstract idea into muscle memory. Hawke’s broader point is that the plan itself matters less than the fact that everyone knows it.

Trump Moves to Eliminate FEMA, Shift Disaster Response to States

The Trump administration is pushing to restructure or abolish FEMA, with a presidential council expected to deliver recommendations by May 2026. An executive order signed last year formally shifted preparedness responsibilities to state and local governments, stating that disaster readiness is “most effectively owned and managed at the state, local, and individual level.” A spending freeze has blocked multiple states from accessing approved FEMA grants for disaster protection.

The move follows a string of controversies, including the firing of a FEMA supervisor in Florida who directed relief workers to skip homes displaying Trump signs after Hurricane Milton. At least 20 households were bypassed. DHS later referred the case to the Department of Justice, citing systematic political discrimination under the previous administration. Funds for FEMA were also mismanaged, with millions going to causes well outside of the agency’s purview during the previous administration.

Congress ultimately controls whether FEMA can be abolished. But the executive branch is already downsizing the agency’s role. For anyone whose emergency plan depends on federal response, this is worth paying attention to.

Source: NPR, Governing, DHS

Midland X-TALKER T77VP5 radios They’re FRS two-way radios, no license needed. Claimed range is 38 miles, which is marketing fiction, but in a suburban neighborhood People have gotten reliable communication at about 2 miles, and in open terrain closer to 5. They include NOAA weather channels, which pull double duty as an alert system. Battery life on the rechargeable packs is solid, roughly 10 to 12 hours of intermittent use. Water-resistant casing. Around $110 for the pair.

Overrated: Satellite phones for everyday preparedness. They cost $1,000 plus, require subscription plans, and the learning curve is steep. Most families would be better served by a $110 radio pair and a written plan.

Underrated: The FEMA app. Free, works on any smartphone, sends real-time emergency alerts for your area, and includes a family communication plan template built right in.

Zello Walkie Talkie App — Push-to-talk app used in real disasters including Hurricane Harvey. Works over WiFi or data when cell calls fail.

ARRL: Getting Licensed — If you want to go beyond FRS radios, here’s how to get a ham radio license. The entry-level Technician test is 35 multiple-choice questions.

Signal Messenger — Encrypted messaging that works on minimal data connections. Good backup when regular texting is spotty.

what3words — Every 10-foot square on Earth has a unique three-word address. Useful for sharing precise locations when street addresses don’t help.

Bridgefy — Mesh messaging app that works via Bluetooth with no internet or cell service. Limited range but genuinely useful in crowded emergency scenarios.

Ready.gov: Financial Preparedness — Includes a template for safeguarding important documents and contact information.

Next week we’re talking about home security, and not the expensive alarm system kind. Practical, affordable ways to make your home a harder target, from lighting to locks to the one habit that matters more than any gadget.

I keep my family communication card in my wallet behind my license. Where would you keep yours?