Hurricane Season Approaching — Are You Ready?

Friday is the official start of the hurricane season, making this week a great time to take a few precautions that could ease your stress if a storm hits and you need help.

Here’s a quick list of things you can do:

• Make a grab-and-go bag with family finance and medical essentials like: Prescription and over-the-counter medicines, one change of clothes for each family member, a back-up drive from your computer, a copy of your home inventory, and a flash drive with copies of important documents like insurance papers, birth certificates, deeds, tax returns, passports, and drivers licenses.

• If you don’t already have an inventory of your home’s possessions, make one. If you do have one, update it.

• Check the price and availability of insurance coverage for hurricanes.

• Do one project that will increase your home’s ability to withstand a tropical storm, like putting up storm shutters, reinforcing your roof, or strengthening your garage doors’ hurricane resistance.

• Trim up your trees and shrubs to make them less vulnerable to summer storms.

• Is your sump pump working? Replace it if it isn’t.

• Load the phone number for your insurance agent and the company’s claims line into your cell phone.

• Price a flood policy, especially if you live in a flood zone.

Source: Insurance Information Institute