West Pierce Fire & Rescue is dedicated to ensuring the community is prepared in the event of a disaster. During major disasters, such as an earthquake, firefighters may be delayed in their response to 9-1-1 calls and the community will need to rely on each other to assist until help arrives.
Each month, WPFR is sharing tips from the Washington Emergency Management Division’s Prepare in a Year series, available here in both English and Spanish. This process breaks down disaster preparedness into smaller tasks that can be accomplished month to month.
This month’s disaster preparedness tip is about important documents.
After a disaster, you may need to access to important documents. To prepare, you can scan your documents or use your cell phone’s camera to take pictures of your documents and put them on an encrypted flash drive or a password locked file.
You should make copies of:
- Property insurance papers
- Health insurance papers
- Financial papers
- Will(s)
- Power of attorney
- Estate papers
You might also consider taking pictures or videos of your valuables as documentation for insurance claims.
Other important documents may include: anything to help identify people in your home, children, and your pets, anything to help you request insurance and disaster assistance, medical documents, emergency contact information, and valuables.
Prep tip: For the physical copies of your documents, they should be stored in a safe deposit box, or a fireproof box.
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