With the hustle and bustle of how busy life is these days, are you ready in case something devastating happens? How about wildfire? Are you prepared in the event of a wildfire coming to your area? Would you know what to grab, and what to leave?
There are many things to worry about and think about in the heat of the moment when something catastrophic happens. Do you feel prepared to leave your home in a matter of minutes if a wildfire was to encroach on your home? There more to it than grabbing your pictures.
One suggestion is to video the contents of your home- so easy to do today and avoid the pesky polaroid’s of yesteryear. Walk through your home, opening drawers and opening closets to show and talk about all your “stuff”. “here’s my 72” TV that happens to be a Sony and 3D. Here’s my sock drawer- lots of socks. Lots of shoes. This print is numbered and probably worth some money” – as an example. This will help on the back end for the “what if’s” that can happen in life. Make sure to upload them to a friend or better yet the “cloud” or even copy onto some type of storage drive and put away, maybe in a safe deposit box. This goes surprisingly fast (update annually if you can). I promise you’ll never remember everything and you’ll be giving yourself a great gift should something happens to your contents. Old photos could be “digitized” making that more practical. Grabbing your laptop is probably a great idea (for those of you living in the 21st century- or those of us who just like the pain of having one).
Binders are a great idea for all of your most important documents (video these also). Include things such as social security cards, birth certificates, marriage certificate(s), insurance documents, bank documents, and even copies of the fronts and backs of your Credit and Debit cards.
Create an emergency bag for a couple of sets of clothing for everyone in your household. If you have kids, especially any little ones, make sure you have a few sets of extra clothes. For babies make sure you have diapers, wipes, formula, bottles, breast pump (if nursing), and comfort items like a blankie or a favorite toy. Then if you have pets, make sure you have a small zip lock baggie full of some food for them, their collar, and leash, or know where their carrier is. It may be a good idea to keep the binder mentioned above close to your bug-out bag. Also, don’t forget any medications, including over the counter items such as you’d take in a travel kit- maybe a set of old glasses. A first aid kit wouldn’t be bad idea as well as some bottled water and snacks. All of this could be kept in a nice backpack with possibly some camping gear if you have it and bam- you’re out of there.
Everyone has different priorities and alternate options available. There are other items not discussed such as chargers, cell phones… emphasizing the importance to plan ahead. There is no price that you can place on “peace of mind”- knowing you’re ready and have done what you can.
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