How much are you ready for a disaster?

After the recent floods in Texas and Oklahoma, the homeowners in other states should learn from the adversity and take necessary precautions in the wake of something similar. But how can you prepare for the unforeseen? Who can by the way? Well, you could do these three things - have an emergency evacuation plan in place, keep an emergency disaster kit, and home inventory. 1. Emergency evacuation plan: If you care about your family members, it's critical to have an evacuation plan in place for them so that, they can move to a safer location in place in the event of a flood, fire, tornado, or earthquake. This disaster guide could help you take better decisions. Families with kids should take particular measures to ensure the safety of the kids on the wake of a disaster like tornado or fire. Keep them informed about the probable disasters and make them aware of the escape routes. Some mock drills would help them to understand how to react and what to do during a disaster. Also plan some mock drills when your kids are sleeping so that they may remain mentally prepared for anything coming and don’t panic. Your kids should also know your family’s meeting place. This place should be a safe abode where all of you would meet once escape. This could either be the town library or the church. However, during emergencies like tornadoes, it’s better to move to a safe place within the house - like a basement that has air duct. 2. Emergency kit: It’s very critical for you to have an emergency kit as a homeowner, so that you can use the supplies in the event of an emergency and until the disaster response team arrives. The American Red Cross advises that emergency kits include:

• Nonperishable foods and a gallon of water per family member per day for a minimum of 72 hours
• A first aid kit
• Hand sanitizer or moist towelettes
• A battery-operated radio, a flashlight, and extra batteries
• An all-purpose tool such as an army knife
• A week’s worth of the prescription medications needed for each family member
• Blankets
• A whistle to alert emergency responders to your location
• Copies of important family documents (insurance policies, the deed or lease to your home, medical information, passports, and birth certificates, for example) in a waterproof container
• Cash or travelers checks

Make sure your kit doesn’t have any outdated items like food or medication that are nearing expiration. Lastly, make sure the kit is placed in such a place where it’s easily accessible. 3. Have a home inventory: The final armor that protects your wealth in the event of a disaster is a home inventory. A home inventory is a detail list of all your possessions and their prices. In order to make a home inventory, go through all your possessions, take photos and write down their descriptions including details such as, when you bought and the price. If possible, keep the original bills of the goods with the inventory. This list will be very helpful in case your home and the contents are destroyed in a disaster and you’ll be able to go for insurance coverage. Make sure you have few copies of the entire inventory stored in different places. Store one copy in a waterproof container in your home and another in your bank’s locker. You can also keep a digital copy in a cloud drive.