An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

Disasters don't discriminate. Everyone can be a victim and must take action to be prepared. Catastrophic risk is real and devastating and can be mitigated by having a plan and practicing the plan with immediate family. For a post-disaster recovery, safeguard the essentials by investing in a safe to preserve copies of important documents and files..

Computer Records & Important Documents in Safe

Invest in a portable disk drive and take advantage of the computer age by scanning receipts and important papers.

• Your personal finance application CD
• Photo images of insured assets
• Setup CDs and support phone numbers
• Once a month update your stored computer data

Identity Documents in Safe

Every state offers both a drivers license and a state id, get both!!

• birth certificate
• social security card
• state ID
• passports
• photocopy of drivers license and recent utility statements
• List passwords, credit card numbers, secret codes

Financial, Insurance & Estate Records in Safe

Review your policy regularly, keeping it up to date. Know what is and, more importantly, what is not covered.

• insurance policies, stock certificates, vehicle titles and registrations
• phone numbers for insurance agents, investment brokers, banker, attorney, accountant
• recent copies of account statements
• photocopies of receipts from major repairs or improvements
• your will, memorial planner and name of firm holding the original
• power of attorney (may be necessary if not everyone survives the disaster)
• credit card numbers & phone numbers for cancelling/renewing cards
• bank account numbers & phone numbers for the bank
• jewelry

Emergency Items in Safe

The most important things to save are ourselves, our family members and our pets. The rest can be replaced.

• extra debit card, credit card & emergency cash
• keys for emergencies
• copies of prescriptions (medicine, eyeglasses, hearing aid, other medical needs)
  
• eyeglasses, hearing aid
  
• phone number for pharmacist, personal doctors, health insurance provider and family
• copy of health insurance card

Recap

With house fires affecting single families and to hurricanes affecting whole communities, getting back on your feet after a disaster is difficult. This road to recovery can be made easier for families who have prepared for the disaster in advance.

We all need to keep in mind that tomorrow is not promised and being prepared for the worst is the best thing for those we leave behind.

I'd like to extend thanks to all those (primarily through LinkedIn) who provided their input and ideas to me for this article. I also welcome any comments to this blog that might help me to improve upon what is now written.