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Entry bubble Stormy Weather

By: Nancy | April 10, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

April showers may bring May flowers, but this year, they're bringing some pretty substantial storm damage with them, too.

Friends in Jackson, Mississippi told me that they've been without power for days and that their part of town looks worse than it did when Hurricane Katrina came through three years ago. Right now, the story's similar throughout Texas and Oklahoma.

car in rainRain, drought, tornadoes or other natural disasters—no matter where you live, extreme weather is almost inevitable. A little preparation though, can get you ready to endure those tough weather conditions.

One of the best ways to prepare for a disaster is to assemble a supply kit with the food, medications, tools and other things you use on a regular basis and special items that you might need in an emergency. When I first decided to put a kit together a couple years ago, it felt a little overwhelming to assemble it all at once. So I added a few items at a time to my weekly shopping list. As I put my groceries away each week, I dropped the emergency supplies into my box and it wasn't too long until I checked off all the items on the list and had a full box of supplies. About every six months, I rummage through the box and replace food and water before it expires so everything will be safe to eat or drink when I need it.

USA.gov's severe weather section features links to information to help you get ready for and to recover from specific weather events like hurricanes and floods; extreme heat and drought; tornadoes and earthquakes; fires and winter storms.

And for my friends in Jackson, I found a great section on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website about staying healthy and safe during power outages.

What's your story? Have you been through any extreme weather events?

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Entry bubble Prepare a Home Inventory – Now!

By: Sommer | January 04, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

Now is the perfect time to prepare a home inventory. It can help you when planning for replacement of furnishings and equipment, purchasing insurance, filing insurance claims, determining your net worth, planning your estate, and more.Living Room

If, like me, you’ve never created a home inventory it sounds like a pretty overwhelming task, doesn’t it? There’s good news – you’ll only have to do it once! In the future, you’ll just have to update your inventory when you purchase new and discard old possessions. If you’d rather hire someone to do an inventory for you, the National Association of Home Inventory Professionals can help you find a professional.

So, where to start?  You can take several different approaches to the inventory like going room-by-room, categorizing your possessions (electronics, furniture, appliances, etc.), newest to oldest, or most to least expensive.  Next, choose the method you’ll use to record all the information.  A simple notebook will suffice, or, you can download a worksheet, take photos, make a video, or even use a computer program.

Regardless of which method you choose, record information such as brand or manufacturer, date purchased, serial number, purchase price, and estimated replacement value.  You can also check with your insurance company to see what information they'll need about your property in the event you have to file a claim.  If you’re a receipt saver like me, now’s the time they’ll come in handy.

Record information about the following items:

  • furniture, carpets, and drapes
  • antiques, artwork and collectibles
  • appliances
  • clothing and other closet contents
  • computer equipment and electronics
  • musical instruments
  • sports equipment
  • garage, attic, and tool shed contents
  • toys, books, and CDs
  • silver and china
  • jewelry and any other valuable items

Once you’ve completed the inventory, keep it in a safe place like a safety deposit box or a fireproof box.  It's a good idea to make a couple copies of the inventory and keep them in different locations. 

Post your stories about how having a home inventory (or not having one) affected your life.  They’ll help light a fire under me (and maybe others) to get one done!

| Post a Comment | View Comments [15] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: disaster   emergency   home   insurance   inventory   property   sommer  

 

Entry bubble The California Fires

By: Nancy | October 25, 2007 | Category: Home and Family

fire trucks and forest fire It was hard to pry myself from the TV news this morning to get ready for work. The images of the fires sweeping down the California coast and the thought of hundreds of thousands of people being evacuated from their homes, not knowing what they'll find when they return, was pretty overwhelming.

If you're in California making your way through this situation or if you're like me, thousands of miles away wondering how to help, and what you'd do if you were faced with a similar disaster, I found some information on USA.gov and pueblo.gsa.gov that can help us all.

USA.gov just created a special page of resources related to the California fires. Learn about getting disaster relief if you're in the middle of the crisis. Connect with loved ones who may have been evacuated. And find out how you can donate to help in the rescue and recovery efforts. There’s also a special page listing telephone hotlines for evacuees and for those who’d like to volunteer to help during the crisis.

One things that keeps coming up over and over in TV interviews with people whose homes were destroyed in the fire is that they wished they'd had their important documents with them when they were evacuated, or at least kept everything in a fireproof safe. It's staggering to think about having to gather up everything important and evacuate your home in a matter of minutes. I don't think I could do it very efficiently right now. I have a fireproof safe, but important documents like insurance papers, my car title and my birth certificate are stored all over the place in my home. I am honestly not ready for a disaster. If you're not either, here's something we can both use: A Citizen Guide to Disaster Preparedness. This starts with the basics of planning ahead for emergencies by assembling supply kits with food, water and medications, pre-planning evacuation routes and more.

Now, as for those important documents you'll need in the event of an emergency, here's a list of what you should have and what the best ways are to safely store these records.

What if you're one of those families I saw on TV whose records were lost in the fires? You don't have to worry; there are ways of getting copies of everything. Here's a comprehensive list from USA.gov that was first developed to help Hurricane Katrina survivors get copies of their important documents that were destroyed in the flooding. Whether your documents have been lost in a disaster or you just plain can't find something around your home, these links will help you get copies of your vital personal records (birth and marriage certificates), banking records, your passport, Social Security card, medical records and more.

Keep checking back. USA.gov's California Fires page will continue to be updated with more information to help everyone affected by the fires get through this challenging time.

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