Natural Disaster CheckList

Before emergencies hit, you need to be prepared. It’s important to have a disaster plan in place.  The best bet is to create a disaster checklist to make sure you don’t forget about important documents, files, and records that you may need.  It might take days or weeks to get you life back in order.  Having this disaster checklist in place will enable you to move faster.  One quick thing maybe to store some of these records in a password protected file online.

Related: Natural Disaster –  Financial Toolkit

Be prepared:
Protect your personal finances

If you had to leave your home in an emergency, you would have only minutes to choose what stays and what goes, and your financial records may be one of the last things on your mind.

Collecting, copying, and storing your financial information now could help you avoid problems and recover faster after a disaster. This checklist can help. Use it to make sure you have the information
and documents you need. Then, keep it with your important documents so you can refer to it when needed.

Personal records

Make and store copies of:

• Driver’s licenses
• Passports
• Social Security cards
• Birth certificates
• Marriage and divorce papers
• Home titles or deeds
• Car, boat, or RV registrations and titles
• A room-by-room inventory of your belongings

Financial records

Most financial records can be replaced, but you need your insurance information if your property is damaged, or if you or a family member needs medical care. Keeping records safe also helps you avoid trouble if questions arise later about your investments, taxes, or workplace benefits.

Make and store copies of:

• Insurance policies
• Investment records
• Income tax information
• Pay stubs and employer benefits records
• Wills, living wills, trusts, financial and medical
  powers of attorney

Related: 5 Tips to Increase Your Emergency Fund

Computer files

If you keep financial records, passwords, family photos, and videos on your computer, consider backing the information up to a secure cloud storage service, or back up your data regularly and keep the backups somewhere safe.

Account numbers

Print out the table below, or on a separate piece of paper organize your account and customer service numbers.  It will be very important you do so, before the disaster hits.