In Case of Emergency Are You Prepared? How to Prepare Your Home For the Worst

If your house is destroyed by fire or flood, will you be prepared? The reality is most people aren't. Everyone thinks that this won't happen to him or her. No body seems to worry about extreme disaster until it happens. After all, you have bought insurance to handle these things. So why worry?

Let's go over some things you may not have considered.

If your house is destroyed by flood or fire:

• Most likely, all of your papers will be destroyed also. The big question is how will your replace them and do you know who to call for your insurance?


• What will you do for clothes? You will only have what you are wearing.


• How will you pay for thing? Your driver's license, social security card, and credit cards will be destroyed.


• How will you be able to make an inventory of your losses for you insurance?

With a little planning, the devastation can be reduced and the whole horrible process made a little easier.

Scan all your important documents:

• your birth certifies,


• marriage license,


• drivers listens,


• insurance policies,


• social security cards,


• tax records and


• If you were in the military, don't forget your discharge papers.

Keep these on a thumb drive or some other kind of disk. Your best bet is to keep them in a safe deposit box. At the very least, keep it in a fire/water proof container.

Have an Extra Set of Clothes
To handle clothes, keep a small bag packed in your car that will handle at least three days of clothes. This will give you enough clothes to wash and wear while waiting on the insurance company.

Keep Your Money Separate
If you have a safety deposit box, keep a checkbook and a credit card in the box. If you lose everything, you will still need access to your money.

Photos for Insurance
You should have pictures of everything in your house: furniture, clothing, jewelry and anything that has value. Remember, you will need to replace the small things like dishes and kitchen appliances as well as your furniture and jewelry.
Pictures will come in handy to file an insurance claim. It is hard to remember everything you own in times of disaster. Store the photos online (Photobucket, Snapfish, Kodak Gallery) or in a safety deposit box.

If you prepare for the worst, you can relieve a lot of the disaster stress. No one wants to think the worst, but if the worst does happen, it pays to be prepared.