September is National Preparedness Month, and at BBB we’re offering a number of tips and resources to help you ensure you’re prepared should major storms hit our area.
DISASTER PLAN
An excellent resource for disaster planning is the ready.gov website, which includes tips and suggestions to be prepared for the impact of stormy weather. Building a plan in advance is key to your family’s safety (pets too) during destructive weather. Consider the following:
– How will I receive emergency alerts and warnings?
– What is my shelter plan?
– What is my evacuation route?
– What is my family/household communication plan? (The Federal Emergency Management Agency offers a template your family can use to build your plan at ready.gov/plan.)
– Do I have an ample emergency supply kit?
FINANCIAL PLAN
FEMA offers excellent tips on building a financial readiness plan, which can also be accessed at ready.gov. Highlights include:
– Do a household inventory. Inventory possessions and document them through photos or a video. This could help if you file insurance claims.
– Take advantage of technology. Technology tools include online bill-pay, virtual safe deposit boxes, and USB flash drives.
– Buy a lockable, fireproof file box. Put important documents in it and keep it in a secure, accessible location so you can grab it and go.
– Rent a safe deposit box. Consider storing critical documents offsite. For easy access, consider keeping originals in your fireproof box and copies in your safe deposit box.
– Make sure accounts are updated. Review now to confirm that your bank account and other account information is current. Organize your finances and maintain copies of key account information in your fireproof box.
STORM PROOFING
Now is the time to review your home for areas that need repair or can be strengthened. Here are some areas to consider:
– Are there any signs of leaks from your roof or loose shingles? Do you need to shore up your roof?
– Does your home have a basement that may need a sump pump or needs to be waterproofed?
– Do you have any trees too close to the house that need to be removed?
– Are there other areas that need to be repaired and could worsen during a storm?
– Do you need to buy a home warranty?
By being proactive in these areas, you can minimize damage if strong storms roll through. BBB provides lists of BBB Accredited Businesses you can turn to for these home projects at bbb.org.
INSURANCE
Check your current insurance policy to be sure your home has adequate coverage for storm damage, and for coverage to reimburse you for temporary shelter, clothing, furniture, or other items that could be affected by extreme weather.
SUPPLY KIT
At ready.gov/kit, you’ll find checklists and a printable shopping list to help you build an emergency supply kit. Once you create or replenish your emergency supply kit, here are some additional things to consider:
– Keep canned food in a cool, dry place.
– Store boxed food in tightly closed plastic or metal containers.
– Replace expired items as needed.
– Re-think your needs every year and update your kit as your family’s needs change.
– Since you do not know where you will be when an emergency occurs, prepare and store supplies for home, work and in your cars.
PRICE GOUGING
Bogus and deceptive online retail sites have been charting at the top of BBB’s scams list for the past three years. While you’re stocking up for emergencies, or any time that you’re considering purchasing from an unfamiliar retailer, check them out first with BBB.
Unfortunately, storm damage can bring price gouging, which refers to when a seller spikes the prices of goods, services or commodities to a level much higher than is considered reasonable or fair. Buying in advance can help you keep costs down and avoid delays in getting supplies.
To protect yourself against price gouging, start with trust. Turn to your BBB to get a list of trustworthy companies as part of your plan. Visit BBB.org or call your BBB at 423-266-6144.
SHRED DAY
BBB’s Fall Shred Day is Saturday, Oct. 5.
A proactive step towards protecting your identity is to safely shred unneeded documents and/or hard drives that contain personally identifiable information and banking information. You can do this for free at BBB’s next Shred Day.
The biannual event will be held from 9 a.m. to noon in the parking lot of Coca-Cola Bottling Co., 2111 W. Shepherd Road in Chattanooga. (Location is near exit 1A/Airport off Hwy 153.)
In addition to bringing paper documents and hard drives for destruction, electronics can also be brought for recycling and outdated or unneeded prescription drugs can be dropped off for safe disposal.
Please limit documents to three large trash bags per person and limit hard drives to four per person. For more information, visit bbb.org/chattanooga or call your BBB at 423-266-6144 and press 6 on our main menu.
Thank you to our event partners: Resource 1 Tier 3 Data Security, Hamilton County Coalition, River City Shredding, Chattanooga Times Free Press, Coca-Cola Bottling Co., Cumulus Media Chattanooga and First Horizon Bank.
Michele Mason is president of the Better Business Bureau in Chattanooga.