When we first came up with the idea to create YouDeparted, we were primarily thinking about how useful it would be when someone passed away. The Angora Fire in South Lake Tahoe serves as a terrifying reminder that getting our lives organized is absolutely necessary for everyone. Beyond preparing for the immediate life or death concern of escaping a natural disaster, we should all think about how we have financially prepared. Right now, the unfortunate citizens in the path of the fire are being evacuated and have just minutes to gather their belongings and flee to safety, but hopefully many of them took steps to prepare for the disaster in advance.
Here are some recommended steps:
- Keep an accurate record of your personal belongings with photos or videos. These records will help you make claims on items lost in a fire or other disaster. Keep these records in a safe place such as your YouDeparted account and/or safe deposit box.
- Review your homeowners’ insurance and make sure it covers the full cost of replacing your home.
- Determine the exact replacement cost for your home, and talk to your agent if it seems too low.
- Keep copies of important documents.
- Backup your photo collections.
- Formulate a disaster plan. Imagine if a disaster happened tomorrow, then think about everything you would have to take care of. Create your plan, get everything you can think of organized and in order, then keep the information in a safe place.
We hope you are never faced with devastating walls of flames like our neighbors across the lake! Remember to be prepared for the unexpected especially if you live in a place prone to a fire, earthquake, flood, tornado, land slide, hurricane, tsunami, or other disaster.
Here is a photo taken from the office at 5:30PM today:
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, June 26th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
and is filed under Planning Ahead.
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