Are You or Your Clients Ready for a Natural Disaster?

Are You or Your Clients Ready for a Natural Disaster?

 There’s been a lot of natural disasters going on in the news lately such as the mudslide in Washington state, tornadoes in the Midwest and tragic snowstorms in the Northeast.  Are there ways to plan, prevent or avoid these disasters or at least prepare yourself and plan in case of an emergency? You may have the right homeowners insurance for where you live whether it's hurricane, flood watch, or other types of specific natural disaster insurance but what are some things that you can do locally in order to prevent major disasters from destroying not only your home but your lifestyle as well?

 Here are some tips to keep in mind to protect yourself or some of your items in case of an emergency or natural disaster.

• Make sure your family has a plan as to where to meet and what to do in case of separation during a natural disaster. You may or may not all be home at the same time and if you are at work or other places make sure you have a place to meet and a way to connect with each other just in case.
  
  
  
• Backup all of your important documents both work and personal in a cloud storage account. Make sure you have hard copies in a safe and make sure that that faith is fireproof and kept in a closet in your home or office. Also, label your safe with your name and phone number in case it gets carried away or washed away. You want to make sure that the contents can be delivered to the right owner.
  
  
  
•  Take personal inventory of all of your belongings with photos and videos plus scan any receipts and then upload those to your cloud storage account. This will make filing an insurance claim much easier after a natural disaster or even a burglary.
  
  
• If you have a storm shelter register with the local fire department so that if you’re stuck under debris rescue workers know to look for you.
  
  
  
• Cancel any credit cards that may have been lost in a storm and contact utility company to cancel any services. You certainly wouldn’t want to be receiving bills for services that you can no longer use.
  
  
  
• Take warnings seriously. This is probably one of the  most important pieces of advice. People in Katrina didn’t take it seriously and many lost their lives.  Take sirens, warnings and threats very seriously because it could be a literal matter of life and death.

Stay Safe out there. Call me for more tips or visit my website at www.VisionRealty.com

As a certified Realtor® for the top-rated Columbus Realty Firm - Vision Realty, with 32 years of dedicated real estate experience, I can help buyers, sellers, investors, short sale sellers and more find, sell or invest in the right property, at the right price, at the right time. Contact me anytime for updates and information on the Columbus OH Real Estate market.

Donald Payne - Vision Realty, Inc. 4608 North High Street Columbus, OH 43214 Toll-free: (866) 510-2223 Cell: (614) 323-4348 DonaldPayne@VisionRealty.com