So you’re ready to start down the path of prepping for natural disasters but already overwhelmed by the seemingly daunting task? Well there’s some good news and some bad news. The bad news first, getting your household ready for an emergency is not the easiest. It takes time to plan, gather supplies for your go bag, etc. But now the good news: there are a few things you can quickly take off your list with minimal effort.
1. Make A Contact List
Think about how many numbers you know by-heart? In the age of cellphones, we take for granted the convenience of our phone storing all our numbers and all we have to do is tap a name- going ages without every seeing the actual number. But what happens in the event of an emergency when your phone dies, is lost, or destroyed and you need to get in contact with someone?
To avoid that, get your phone, a pen, and a paper and jot down important contact numbers that you might need. I also recommend highlighting any that are an emergency contact so someone knows who to call in case of an emergency. When you’re done with all your numbers, have it laminated or just place it in a ziplock bag. Tip: you can also place it in a vaccine card holder. Easy right? Now put that in your go bag or somewhere you can easily grab if you need to evacuate.
2.Get Some Cash
Now that you can pay with a credit card or the tap of your phone nearly everywhere, having cash handy is a thing of the past. But when disaster strikes you might be in a situation where card machines and other electronic payment devices are down. So make sure to have some cash, preferably in small bills.
3. Stash Some Spare Keys
If you don’t already have spare car keys and house keys, then this will require a tad more effort than the rest of the things on this list. Nonetheless, it’s still a pretty quick task to complete.If you don’t have any spare keys then go make some. For car keys you might have to order them, but for house keys you can go to any locksmith or even a pharmacy like Rite Aid that has a key copy machine. If there’s anything else that requires a key that might be a pain to replace like a safety deposit box key then consider stashing those as well. Once you have your keys, stash those in your go bag or with your cash and contact list in a convenient place where they won’t get lost. Consider a waterproof and/or flame-retardant pouch.
Look at that, you can get all the important things on this list done in no time and would have already made a big dent in your emergency preparedness status. Maybe once you’ve seen how easy these things are you will be motivated to check some other things off the list. Take it one step at a time and you will be prepped and ready for anything in no time. If you are looking for some more information on how to get started then checkout our full checklist and read some more about go bags and what goes in them.
