Preparing Financially For Disasters

Happy September! For those of you who do not know, September is National Preparedness Month. This month encourages and reminds us to be prepared for disasters at our homes, work, school, and communities. Many different organizations - such as the Ready Campaign and the United States Environmental Protection Agency – have designed their own weekly themes to better inform people like you how to prepare for a variety of potential emergency situations; and we at Quake Kare would like to share some of our own emergency ready tips throughout the month of September!

Now that the first week of September is coming to a close, we have prepared a short week-one summary to fill you in on anything you may have missed and prepare you for the next three weeks of Disaster Preparedness Month. Our theme for the first week of Disaster Preparedness Month was “Financial Preparedness for Disasters.” According to the Federal Reserve, 40% of Americans do not have $400 in savings. If a disaster were to strike you or your family, would you be financially prepared for it? If your answer is no, don’t worry! The Ready Campaign has created a great resource for financial preparedness. Their three major takeaways are:

1. Gather your family’s financial, insurance, household, and medical information. In the case of an emergency, these documents will help speed up the recovery process.
2. Put money into a savings account that is exclusively for emergency situations and keep a stock of small bills in the event that credit cards or ATMs do not work in a disaster. 
3. Obtain property, health, and life insurance if you do not already have them. If you live in an area that is easily flooded, remember that most homeowners insurance does not typically cover flooding and you may need to purchase flood insurance as well.

If you’re finding yourself struggling with step one of the Ready Campaign’s major takeaways, fear not! The Federal Emergency Management Agency has assembled a detailed checklist of every form you and your family may need in the case of an emergency. To learn more about which documents you may need, how to protect your information, and more, click here.

Thanks for joining us for week one of Disaster Preparedness Month! Looking forward, next week we’ll share some tips on how to make a plan for sever weather situations such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and winter weather. We also have more suggestions on how to prepare for earthquakes and will teach you about resources such as CERT classes and the ‘Stop The Bleed’ campaign coming up, so be sure to check back in to the blog very soon! To get more updates throughout Disaster Preparedness Month follow Quake Kare on Facebook and Instagram @QuakeKare!