8 Things Every Homeowner Should Do Before Disaster Strikes
September is National Preparedness Month, making it the perfect time to ask an important question: If something unexpected happened to your home tomorrow, would you be ready?
Emergencies rarely give us much warning. Severe storms, hurricanes, flooding, wildfires, power outages, fires, and even unexpected plumbing problems can quickly turn an ordinary day into a stressful situation.
While you can’t prevent every emergency, you can make sure your household is better prepared to handle one. Here are eight things every homeowner should consider doing now, before you actually need them.
1. Create or Update Your Home Inventory
Could you list everything you own if you had to file an insurance claim tomorrow?
Most of us could remember the big items- the television, couch, refrigerator, or laptop, but what about everything else?
Walk through your home and photograph each room, including closets, cabinets, garages, and storage spaces. Document valuable items and save receipts or serial numbers whenever possible.
A home inventory can provide an important record of your belongings if they’re damaged, destroyed, or stolen.
2. Know Where Your Shut-Offs Are
When water is pouring from a broken pipe, that’s not the time to figure out how to shut off your home’s water supply.
Every adult in your household should know the location of your:
- Main water shut-off
- Electrical panel
- Gas shut-off
- Irrigation shut-off
Consider labeling them so they’re easy to identify during an emergency.
3. Build an Emergency Supply Kit
Create a designated emergency kit containing basic supplies your household may need if you lose electricity or need to shelter at home.
Consider including water, nonperishable food, flashlights, batteries, portable phone chargers, a first-aid kit, necessary medications, pet supplies, and copies of important information.
Don’t forget to periodically check expiration dates and replace supplies as needed.
4. Create a Family Emergency Plan
Does everyone in your family know what to do if you can’t get home?
Determine:
- Where your family will meet
- How you’ll communicate
- Who will pick up children
- Where you’ll go if you need to evacuate
- How you’ll accommodate pets
- Which family member outside your immediate area can serve as an emergency contact
Make sure children understand the plan, too.
5. Review Your Insurance Coverage
Insurance shouldn’t be something you only look at when there’s a claim.
Take time to review your homeowners policy with your insurance professional and make sure you understand your coverage, deductibles, and exclusions.
If you’ve recently remodeled your home or made major purchases, your insurance professional should know about those changes as well.
This is also a good opportunity to ask about risks that may require separate or additional coverage, such as flooding.
6. Organize Your Important Home Documents
Imagine needing an insurance policy, contractor invoice, appliance receipt, or home improvement record immediately after an emergency.
Would you know where to find it?
Important home documents can easily become scattered across filing cabinets, email inboxes, desk drawers, and cloud storage.
Create a centralized digital location for:
- Insurance documents
- Closing documents
- Home inventory records
- Receipts
- Warranties
- Contractor information
- Renovation records
- Appliance information
- Important photos
Having this information organized before an emergency can eliminate one more source of stress when something goes wrong.
7. Check Your Home’s Safety Equipment
Use National Preparedness Month as your reminder to perform a quick safety check around your home.
Test your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and replace batteries when necessary. Check fire extinguishers and make sure everyone knows where they’re located.
If you own a generator, review the manufacturer’s instructions and make sure you understand how to operate it safely before you need it.
8. Document Your Home Before a Major Storm
If severe weather is approaching, take a few minutes to photograph your home’s current condition.
Capture your:
- Roof and exterior
- Windows
- Landscaping
- Fence
- Outdoor structures
- Vehicles
- Major interior rooms
If damage occurs, having recent “before” photos may provide helpful documentation when you’re assessing what changed.
Preparedness Starts Before the Emergency
It’s easy to put emergency planning at the bottom of the to-do list when everything is going well. But a small amount of preparation today can make an incredibly stressful situation easier to navigate tomorrow.
September’s National Preparedness Month is the perfect reminder to create your home inventory, review your insurance, organize your records, build your emergency kit, and make sure your family knows what to do.
PorchFile can help you keep important information about your home organized in one secure location- from your home inventory and insurance documents to receipts, warranties, contractor information, and home improvement records.
Because when the unexpected happens, the last thing you should have to worry about is finding the information you need.
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