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What disasters could strike your home? How can you
protect yourself and your property against a crisis?
Fires
- Install smoke detectors
- Clear any brush or dry undergrowth surrounding your
home
- Contact your fire department for advice
Floods / Tsunami
- Ask local utilities to show you how to shut off gas
and/or how to elevate utilities
- Elevate utilities to an upper floor or attic
- If your home is in a flood area, on a fault
line, or threatened by erosion, consider moving
Hurricanes / Tornadoes
- Have your house inspected to find out what could
prevent or reduce disaster damage
- Anchor the house to the foundation, and anchor the roof
to the main frame
- Install hurricane shutters for windows, and get
plywood covers for glass doors
- Cover windows, disconnect utilities, or move
possessions to a safer location
Earthquake
- Secure objects that could cause damage, such as
bookcases or hot water heaters
- Practice rapid evacuation of the building
- Frame houses tend to withstand some disasters, while
brick homes hold up better in others
Household Inventory
Inventory your household possessions to:
- Help prove the value of what you owned after a disaster
- Expedite fast, fair payments from insurance companies
- Document losses for tax deductions
To make a home inventory:
- Record the location of important financial and
family documents, such as birth and marriage certificates, wills, deeds,
tax papers, insurance policies, and stock and bond certificates. Keep the
originals in a safe place and store copies.
- Record your possessions. Use a camera or videotaping
equipment (or borrow or rent it)
- Go from room to room, describing each item, when you
bought it, and how much it cost
- If you're photographing or videotaping, have someone
open closet doors and hold up items
- Record models and serial numbers
- Include less valuable items, such as towels, linen and
clothes
- Include the contents of your attic, basement, and
garage
- Note the quality of expensive furnishings and fixtures
- Photograph the exterior of your home
- Photograph cars, boats, and recreational vehicles
- Copy receipts and canceled checks for valuable items
- Get professional appraisals of jewelry, collectibles,
artwork, etc
- Update the appraisals every two or three years
- Update your inventory annually
Once you have an inventory, leave a copy with relatives
or friends, or in a safe deposit box
Insurance
Homeowner insurance may not cover floods and other major
disasters. Ensure you have the insurance you need. Be aware that some insurance
companies avoid, minimize and delay payouts. If you own a home:
- Consider full replacement or replacement cost insurance
- Investigate guaranteed replacement cost insurance
policies
- Have your home periodically reappraised
- Update the policy to include home improvements, such as
basement refinishing
- Know what the policy will and will not cover, and the
deductibles
- Check that your policy's coverage matches the value of
your possessions
Rental Accommodation
- Consider relocating away from flood areas or fault
lines
- Your landlord's insurance won't cover damage to or loss
of your possessions
- Will the policy pay for expenses if you have to have to
live
somewhere else?
- Comparison shop as policies vary from company to company
- Discounts may be available if you have multiple
insurance policies with a company
Special Coverage
- Floods. Homeowner policies
rarely cover flood damage
- Earthquakes. Premiums
are often high, and deductibles may be up to 20%.
- Home offices. Some
policies cover computer equipment and other business property
- Potential problems include mines (beneath your
property), sewer backup, and mudslides
- Expensive items. Additional coverage for
specific jewelry, collectibles, art, furs, etc
Cash
After a disaster, you may need cash. To stay solvent,
consider:
- Keep cash or traveler's checks where you can get it
quickly in case of evacuation
- Create an emergency fund. (This can be helpful in any
financial crisis)
- Keep emergency funds in a safe, easily accessible
account
- Keep some funds outside the local area, perhaps in
another city
- Keep your credit cards paid off. You may need them
Evacuation box. Buy a
lockable, durable "evacuation box" to grab in an emergency. A cardboard box
would do. Put important papers into the box in sealed, waterproof plastic
bags. Store the box in your home where you can get it easily. If evacuated,
keep this box with you at all times.
An Evacuation Box could carry:
- Traveler's checks or cash and a few rolls of coins
- Negatives of important personal photographs, in plastic
sleeves
- Emergency contacts of doctors, lawyers, clergy, contractors and family members
- Copies of prescriptions for medicines and spectacles,
and immunization records
- Health, dental, or prescription insurance cards and
information
- Copies of insurance
policies (or at least policy numbers) and insurance telephone
numbers
- Copies of important records (or
their locations). Deeds, titles, wills, letters of instruction,
birth and marriage certificates, passports, employee benefits, tax forms,
etc.
- Backups of financial records
- Bank account, credit card, driver's license, passport and Social Security numbers
- Safe deposit box keys
Safe deposit boxes protect originals of important
papers, or keep copies in your evacuation box or with family or friends.
Original documents to store in a safe deposit box include:
- Deeds, titles and other ownership records for your
home, vehicles, boat, etc
- Birth certificates and citizenship papers
- Marriage license, divorce papers and child custody
papers
- Passports and military or veteran papers
- Appraisals of valuable jewelry / heirlooms
- Certificates for stocks, bonds and other investments
- Trust agreements
- Living wills, powers of attorney, and health care
powers of attorney
- Insurance policies
- Home improvement records
- Household inventory
Originals of wills should not be kept in a safe deposit
box since the box may be sealed temporarily after death. Keep originals of
wills with your local registrar of wills or your attorney.
Safes and fire boxes can be convenient places to store
important papers. Some disasters, such as hurricanes, floods or tornadoes,
could destroy your home. Maybe store original papers in a
safe deposit box or at a location well away from your home.
If you have time...
Some disasters, such as tornadoes or earthquakes, strike
with little warning. Others, such as floods or hurricanes, may allow time to
prepare. If there is enough time, you could:
Create a priority list. Perhaps
include:
- Clothes for a few days
- Jewelry and other small valuables
- Irreplaceable heirlooms, mementos and photos
- A battery-powered radio and spare batteries
- Take important papers and computer disks if you have a
home business
Contact local emergency management service. Learn about
potential disasters in your area and how you can help others who are
affected by a disaster. Attend first aid and CPR training.
Emergency Coaching
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Martyn Carruthers served on Royal Navy nuclear
submarines during the Cold War. He was health physics and
safety officer at English and Canadian nuclear power stations, and Radiation
Protection Officer for the Canadian government, where he worked with Public Health
and Emergency Measures organizations. Martyn founded
Systemic
Solutions, a complete system of coaching and coach training. |
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