Emergency Plan: Protect Your Family, Home, Possessions from Weather Threats
In recent years, weather events — tornados, thunderstorms, flooding, and blizzards — have become more frequent and destructive.
It’s crucial to prepare for dangers to your family, home, and possessions by developing an emergency plan and reviewing your insurance coverage to be sure you’re protected.
With September being National Preparedness Month, now is a perfect time to evaluate your plans and be sure you’re ready for a weather crisis.
Severe Weather Preparations
1. Create an emergency plan. Talk with your family so everyone knows what to do in each emergency and how to contact one another if you get separated. If you have young kids, do some drills.
2. Keep up with the latest news. Know how to get local information during a crisis. Sign up for emergency alerts from your city, install weather apps on your phone, follow regional government emergency offices on social media, and download local media apps.
3. Build an emergency kit. Create a bag with essentials so you’re prepared to leave your house or shelter in a place without electricity and heat. Your kit should include what’s needed to get you through several days: water and non-perishable food, prescriptions, baby formula, pet food, first aid supplies, blankets, batteries, etc. For a complete list, click here.
4. Protect valuables and essential documents. Be sure to have copies of documents like passports, bank account numbers, insurance information, credit cards, deeds to your home, and birth, marriage, divorce certificate, adoption, and child custody papers in a waterproof and fireproof safe.
5. Inventory your belongings. You’ll need documentation to file an insurance claim for damage to your property or cars. List and photograph or video all your valuables: electronics, furniture, appliances, jewelry, and so forth. Include brand names, models, serial numbers, and receipts. Store the documentation in the cloud or off-site.
6. Preserve phone battery life. During an emergency, conserve your phone’s battery by using your phone only when necessary, switching to power-saving mode, turning off Wi-Fi and location services, and texting rather than calling. Also, get a portable phone charger.
Review Your Insurance
Having insurance policies that help you recover from a tornado, flood, or another emergency is one way to prepare for a crisis.
Review your insurance to be sure you have the right coverage to protect your home, life, cars, and business.
You can get a free, no-strings-attached review of your insurance policies through Liberty Insurance Agency*. For more information, click here or call 773.792.1660 to make an appointment.
*Liberty Insurance Agency, Inc. is a subsidiary of Liberty Bank for Savings. Insurance products and services are not bank products or services nor are they FDIC insured or insured by any federal government agency. They are not a deposit or obligation of or guaranteed by Liberty Bank and may involve investment risk, including possible loss of principal. Applicants are individually underwritten and some individuals may not qualify.
