Hurricane season is from June through December. According to ready.com, the Department of Homeland Security’s website, hurricanes are most active during September, but we have seen that a storm can develop and cause devastation any time during the season.
One way to make sure you are prepared is to keep your emergency kit up to date. Experts recommend having enough supplies for each person in your family to last for 72 hours.
Build an emergency kit.
(FEMA’s recommendation)
- Water- Each person should have one gallon of water for drinking and cleaning per day. This means that for a family of four, you would need 12 gallons of water available.
- Food – Have 3 days of non-perishable food
- Battery-powered or hand-crank radio and an NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both
- Flashlight and extra batteries
- First aid kit
- Whistle to signal for help
- Dust mask, to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
- Moist towelettes, garbage bags, and plastic ties for personal sanitation
- Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
- Can opener for food
- Local maps
Talk to Your Insurance Agent to Review Your Coverage
By reviewing the policy, you and your agent can discuss the coverages. You can assess each item to make sure it includes all your property. Think about EVERYTHING you own – big and small. People typically underestimate what they have in their home or mistakenly think their policy won’t replace old with new. If you do not have enough coverage on the home and contents of your home, you run the risk of not being able to be made whole again. Please talk to us to make sure your valuables and assets are included.
We recommend taking a video inventory of your household items. Don’t forget the garage, the closets, and the attic. While shooting the video of each room, narrate as you go along describing each item, the approximate date of purchase, and cost. It’s helpful if you can add the make, model, and serial number too. Store copies in the cloud or send them to a trusted relative to hold for you. Your policy should contain the endorsement that has replacement cost on contents and enough to replace anything lost in the event of a disaster.
