So, take time now, while things are quiet, to develop your own disaster plan. Here are 7 tips to get you started.

1) Find all the financial records you keep at home. These include bank and brokerage statements, your mortgage, car and education loans, insurance policies and the like.

For each, highlight or jot down a contact name with his/her phone and fax numbers and email address. This is particularly important when it comes to your insurance agent. You want to be one of the first to contact him/her if you're filing a claim.

Make two copies of each document and place the originals in an at-home fireproof safe. Then put one set of copies at your place of work and another with a trusted friend or relative who lives in a different geographical area. As you know, floods tornadoes and hurricanes can destroy wide areas of a city, town or county so there's no point in having a set with a neighbor.

Select a safe that you can carry with you and let all the adults in your family know where it is. Whoever is at home when a disaster strikes should know to take the with them.

Tip: In your at-home safe include an extra set of your regular checks as well as some travelers checks.

2) Keep cash on hand. If the electricity is wiped out, your ATM machine will stop working.

3) Make two copies of both sides of your credit, debit and ATM cards. Be sure the toll-free number is clear (on some cards this number appears in very small type) so you can contact the issuer. Again, put one copy in your safe and the other with a friend.

4) Call your credit card companies. Do this if you think you will be forced to evacuate. Let the companies know you may be using the cards for unusual purchases, perhaps outside of your hometown. 

5) Do a household inventory. Take pictures or videos of your possessions.

6) Write down contact information for your utility companies. These include gas, electricity and telephone. If your home is not safe to return to, notify each so billing can be stopped.


7) Carry with you the contact information for the three major credit bureaus. Tell each if you have been affected by a natural disaster. By placing a fraud alert on your accounts, creditors must contact you before opening any new accounts or making changes to existing accounts.

Equifax: www.equifax.com
Experian: www.experian.com
TransUnion: www.transunion.com

STAY TUNED

Next week: How To Do A Household Inventory

         - Nancy Dunnan