Editors Note: An article from Dennis to The Prepper Journal. A sponsored post promoting choices in home warranties. I am posting this because it serves two purposes – it contains some good prepping tips and my being saddled with a poor choice in a home warranty, my own fault, I hope to help others avoid the same mistake.
Indeed, precaution is better than cure. This cannot be more practical in our everyday life. No matter what we are doing, we should expect the best but at the same time, be prepared for the worst things that can happen.
You know why it is called home sweet home? Because it is your only personal space in this vast world. It is the place where your children took their first steps, it’s the place where you take a rest when tired and a place where you sleep peacefully. You would never want anything bad to happen to your home, right?
While hurricanes and floods and even a tsunami come with warnings, sometimes days before the event, sometimes with precious few hours, things like tornadoes and wildfires can come with little warning, a simple shift in winds, and earthquakes come with no warnings at all. We always need to be prepared for the worst.
I lost everything when my house was wrecked by a hurricane that hit my city, so trust me I know how much I regret not doing anything before it happened.
Do not repeat the same mistakes I did and prepare your house for future disaster. Here are some tips for you.
Tips to Prepare your House for Future Disasters:
Keep a Bag prepared: In the event of a disaster, you might need to leave your house in a rush so what would you take? Prudence demands you keep some essential supplies packed and ready so you can rush out with them.
As per FEMA (Federal Management Agency), here is a list of essentials you must keep in the bag:
- Store at least 3 days’ worth of water and food
- Batteries
- First Aid Kit
- Flashlight and a radio
- Whistle
- Can opener for food
- Trash bag, dust mask, and a duct tape
- Maps
- Cellphone with charger
- Towelettes
Preppers know that there is so much more that should be packed. Apart from these items, you should also keep items like snacks, a means of self-defense, walking shoes, some extra cash; you just don’t know what infrastructure will survive. Make sure to keep these things stored and re-check the bag every 6-months to remove the expired foods, medications, etc.
A Home Warranty: If you have ever bought a home, then you should know about insurance. Homeowner insurance covers any external damage to your house like fire, theft, storms, etc. It can also protect the contents and usually for a set amount. BUT, unless you have specifically insured, and paid for, coverage for expensive items such as art, jewelry, collections of value (guns, stamps, musical instruments, etc.) you are at financial risk. Has your homeowner’s policy been updated to reflect such things?
However, your homeowner’s insurance is very limited in any coverage of equipment failure due to the normal use of items. For this, a home warranty policy will cover all your appliances from microwaves to refrigerators to fans and everything, depending on the specific coverage purchased. They can also cover pools and pool equipment as well as your roof. KNOW what you are getting when you seek this type of insurance as there are lots of home warranties to choose from. This article has listed some of the best companies that offer home warranty insurance, as always, do your due diligence.
Fill up the gas containers: Get a 5500-watt generator, or equivalent and it will run about 8 hours on 5 gallons of gasoline, a necessary backup if you plan to shelter in place. Of course, gas management is extremely critical here.
You never know when there can be a power outage, so just be prepared for it. Have full gas containers, and a generator can get you by until the electricity returns.
Prepare for power cuts: Whenever you get a power cut, the first thing to do is unplug all the appliances and electronics in your house. By unplugging all the appliances, you will be able to save them from electricity surges. Of course, you can mitigate this by installing surge protectors. Just leave a light plunged in a normal outlet, surge protector in place, as an indicator as to when grid power is restored.
Prepare for Hurricanes: You can prepare for hurricanes by boarding windows and securing potential flying debris. It will provide some measure of protection for your home and family and minimize some damage.
Prepare ahead of time and cut the plywood in proper dimensions so that you can use them immediately. Mark each with where they should go and mark them on the side that will face inward. Of course, installed storm shutters are a better solution, but they are a significant expense.
Keep an extra can of gas for your car at home and run with your vehicle always at half full instead of waiting for the “fuel low” indicator telling you to fuel up, you never know when you might need to evacuate the area and fighting for fuel should NOT be your first destination when you need to leave.
Also, remove all the dirt and debris from the neighborhood. By getting rid of the dead trees and woods you can avoid the high storms from picking up the debris and making deadly projectiles out of it. If only California had done this on a planned, routine basis.
Put the Refrigerator in Coldest settings: In the time of any disaster, put the refrigerator on the coldest settings, so when the power goes out, you can keep the foods cold as long as possible. And keep the doors closed! If you need something from it get in and get out quickly. What child hasn’t heard their parent say “…so are you waiting for something to grow in there?” as they open the door and casually search for food items?
Also, unplug your refrigerator right after the power goes out to prevent it from malfunctioning when the power is back, unless, of course, you have installed the surge protectors.
Keep the insurance Papers: You should keep insurance papers close and safe all the time. It is recommended to keep all the insurance papers (including your home warranty and renter’s warranty) in your storm kit so that you do not lose them after things are back to normal.
As soon as things start to get back to normal, you will need those papers in order to get financial help and fix your house. Thus, keeping them in your storm kit is the best thing to do.
Think about your Pets: When bad weather is about to hit, you need to think about what to do with your pets. If you are forced to shelter them because you are forced to leave and the shelter in your area doesn’t have the facility or staff to manage them then you need to already know about shelters that allow pets, or facilities set up to care for them and plan to get them there safely. A basic pet owner’s responsibility. Also, keep a picture of your pet in case they get lost. Many states provide some great means for this, do your homework.
Conclusion:
There you go, the 8 tips to prepare your house for future disasters. We hope you have enjoyed reading this article, keep them in mind and surely, they will help you out.