Hello World! Welcome Friends! There was a time when you’d hear about a hurricane in the south or an earthquake on the west coast every few years. However, these days, storms, wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes are happening more frequently in places you wouldn’t expect. Although homeowners and their families do what they can to take precautions like boarding up windows and doors, stocking up on batteries and flashlights, and investing in generators, sometimes it’s not enough.
When disaster strikes a region, sometimes preparation efforts go out the window. Homes are ravished, people get injured, and some, unfortunately, lose their lives. While this shouldn’t discourage you from taking such measures, you must consider how you’ll recover once the storm passes. Hopefully, your homeowner’s insurance will cover the cost of repairing your home, but there are other steps you need to take to get back on track. As such, here’s a list of things you can do to make recovering more manageable.
Upload Memorable or Important Documents
When you watch news reports of people coping after a natural disaster, one of the first things they mention is the photographs and memories lost. While you may not be able to safeguard the physical photos and important documents, you can save yourself a lot of heartache by uploading this information. You can store pictures, videos, and other documents in the cloud, so you can access them no matter where you are as long as you have a computing device and sound internet.
Invest In a Weatherproof Safe
While you may not have tons of cash and jewelry, safes are ideal for other treasures. For instance, many people keep their social security cards, birth certificates, passports, wills, insurance cards, and other important information in a safe. This concept is not only to protect them from thieves but from natural disasters as well. A weatherproof safe is made of materials that help to protect paper against fires and flooding. Keeping these documents in a safe place makes acquiring assistance or services after a natural disaster a lot easier.
What can I do if I lost my birth certificate, social security card, or passport? If you or someone in your household is missing these documents, start applying for them long before a natural disaster occurs. You can visit your city or county clerk’s office, health and human services department, or visit an official state or government website to learn the next steps.
Emergency Plan
Natural disasters can strike at any moment (sometimes without warning). You hear all the time about family members worried about the well-being of lost loved ones. You can ease these anxieties and keep everyone on the same page by developing an emergency communication plan. If a natural disaster strikes and you’re unable to communicate via the phone or internet, how will you let your relatives know you’re safe? More importantly, where can you guys meet so you can take the next steps towards finding shelter and assistance? You can meet at a local shelter, a relative’s house (that resides outside of the danger zone), or a landmark in your town. As for communication, you can give a timeframe to reach out before you contact the authorities.
Emergency Savings
If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to start building an emergency savings account. Recovering from a natural disaster can take weeks, if not months. Although there are programs and insurance policies that assist, these funds take time to acquire. Having a few thousand dollars in the bank ensures you can pay for temporary housing, food, clothes, and any other needs you and your family may have.
When most people think about natural disasters, they think about preparing their homes. While those practices shouldn’t go overlooked, you must think beyond a physical structure. Should your home be damaged in a storm, wildfire, or other disasters, there are several things you’ll need to do to cope with the aftermath. By taking the steps listed above, you can make the process much easier to manage.
Click the links below for any posts you have missed:
Tips for De-Cluttering Your Home
5 Reasons you Should Replace Your Old Patio Doors
Best Areas to Live in Toronto for Families
Don’t Delay Your Asphalt Repairs
6 Tips for Selecting the Best Seeds
5 Interior Design Tricks for the Perfect Bedroom
I’d love for you to join my email list! You’ll receive a notification straight to your inbox which will include links to my latest home project posts! Simply enter your address below.
Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day/night depending on where you are in the world! Go with God and remember to be kind to one another!
Toodles,
Leave a Reply