Guide, United States

How to watch over family with the Situation screen

How we wrote this: researched from the public sources listed at the end of the page. General information, not medical or legal advice. Last checked 2 November 2026.

The Situation screen is our free, always on page of public alerts. It is made for a phone, a desk monitor or a spare TV: one map, one plain status line and one feed. This guide shows how to set it up for the houses you look out for.

What it shows

A map and a feed of public alerts and warnings for your country.
A plain status line that says whether anything near your pins is serious, and stays quiet on a quiet day.
A clock and the readiness checklist.

If a feed is down, the screen says so. Old data is never shown as live. It does not replace official warnings, your local alerts or emergency services: if you are told to act, act on that.

Step 1: pin home

Type your town or ZIP and pin home. The place you type is looked up once, on request. Your pins are saved in this browser only and are never sent to us.

Step 2: add the people you watch over

With free access (just an email, no password) you can add more pins: your parents' house, the kids' school, a brother across the state. You can also choose an alert radius, turn on browser notifications, and get the daily brief.

Step 3: put it on a big screen

Ops mode goes full screen and rotates through the latest serious events. Ambient mode dims the screen and slows the motion, so a TV in the kitchen can show it all evening without burn in.

Step 4: tick off the plan

The household planner walks through your hazards one at a time. Pair it with the free 72-Hour Family Plan PDF, which has the blanks for meeting places and contacts that Ready.gov recommends.

Step 5: stock each house

When a pin shows a gap, Supply Drops uses the same pins to plan a kit for each house, and each house checks out on its own address. Start with the 72 hour kit for 4 for a family home, or read the gift guide for elderly parents.

FAQ

Is the Situation screen free? Yes. The map, feed, checklist and one home pin are free. Free access by email adds more pins, a radius, notifications and the daily brief.

Do you see where my family lives? No. Pins and your household profile are stored in your browser only.

Does it replace official alerts? No. Keep your phone's emergency alerts on and follow local officials.