How Your Family Can Survive a Disaster

What would your family do if a disaster struck right now? If you don’t have a good answer to that question, you could be putting your loved ones in serious danger. Luckily, it’s easy to put together an effective emergency plan with these basic tips from this article.

Work Through a Plan to Protect Your Family

In the event of an emergency, your first priority should be to protect your family. To do that, you need to have your disaster plan outlined well ahead of time. Go over important tips with members of your household and make sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to your emergency plans. You should give every family member an individual role in your strategy but also make sure everyone is comfortable performing emergency tasks on their own. You can also talk about emergency contact lists and other ways to prepare.

One of the steps that should be included in any disaster plan is to assemble a supply kit full of essentials. The basics every family needs are a battery operated flashlight and radio, a first aid kit, and some cash. Another good item to include is a manual can opener. Canned goods top the list of emergency stockpile foods you should keep stocked in your pantry, but you will definitely want an easy way to open them.

Take Special Care of Older Loved Ones

When you have seniors in your family, you may need to take some extra steps to help them stay prepared. For seniors who are living alone, one of the most important disaster tips is to form a support group of people living nearby who can provide assistance when an emergency happens. To help this support group assist your loved one, put together a list of supplies and medications the older adult will need if they need to leave their home.

Setting up a support group is especially helpful for seniors and individuals living with a disability, but you should take other special measures as well. Seniors with disabilities should make certain that they have backup mobility aids available in an area where they can be quickly accessed, and they should keep these devices charged. Finally, an easy-to-use cellphone is a must for any senior living on their own so they can receive emergency alerts and ask for help.

Have a Strategy to Preserve Your Home

People and pets should always come first in your emergency plan, but protecting your property should definitely be your next step. FEMA offers a list of emergency preparedness steps you can take for every disaster you can think of, from earthquakes to bomb attacks. One way you can protect your home is to have a security system installed. Even if your home escapes damage, break-ins and crime tend to go up when disaster strikes, but having a security system can give you some additional peace of mind when it comes to protecting your property.

If a disaster or emergency happens and makes you want to move away from your current area, you may need help selling your home. Researching home prices will allow you to price your home at a reasonable rate and have enough to invest in a new home. To calculate how much you can afford, Redfin suggests first looking at how much you earn each year before taxes, then dividing by 12 to come up with a rough monthly mortgage payment estimate. Then, follow the 28/36 debt-to-income rule: Don’t spend more than 28 percent of your monthly income on housing-related expenses and no more than 36 percent of your income against other debts, including the new mortgage. This should allow you enough money left over for other expenses, such as gas, vacations, groceries and savings.

We don’t like to think of a flood, fire or other catastrophe striking our home. After all, home is where we like to feel safe, but if you put together a disaster plan now, you shouldn’t have anything to fear if an emergency does happen.

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