What Do You Need
When a Disaster Strikes?
If you had to evacuate your home quickly -- with the potential of losing everything inside of it -- what would you take with you?
That's the question that Karen Turner and her husband started discussing as they watched the Katrina disaster unfold this week. For this Austin, Texas, couple, one fear is that a tornado might devastate their home some day.
They've already provided important financial documentation to three different family members who live in other areas. But they're not sure what to do next. "The question that runs through my mind is: How do these individuals pick the pieces up and start building their lives again?" Ms. Turner says.
Gadgets can help. Rebecca Wallace, a public-relations executive in Atlanta whose basement flooded twice during hurricanes last fall, says she and her husband have downloaded their digital photos onto CDs and have the CDs all together in a folder "easy to grab."
If your computer gets washed away with a storm, you'll want to have important information stored somewhere else, says Michael Gartenberg, a vice president and research director at JupiterResearch. Small, portable hard drives typically can be plugged into an external computer port and hold backup copies of documents, photographs and music files, he says. A hard drive that holds 10 or 20 gigabytes of information is probably sufficient, Mr. Gartenberg says, though most hard drives sold today have much more memory than that. Typical prices range between $100 and $300.
There are also smaller storage devices, often called "thumb drives," that have less memory -- generally up to one or two gigabytes -- and are small enough to be carried on a keychain. "It may not take every picture you've ever taken, but it can capture financial data," he says. These gadgets often range from $45 to $250.
Mr. Gartenberg also suggests another portable-storage option many people have but may not think about: a portable music player, such as an iPod. A player with a large memory capacity can be an "impromptu backup device" for documents and photos -- not just music, he says.
A scanner can help get copies of important documents into a computer, from passports to a child's first works of art. Typical prices range from $50 to over $300 for full-featured models. There are also tools, sometimes called digitizers, that will transfer videotapes -- such as wedding videos -- onto DVDs that can be easily carried. These generally cost between $100 and $300.
Some possessions can't be digitized. Ms. Wallace of Atlanta keeps her wedding dress in a storage box and her valuable jewelry "in a case ready to dump into a bag if need be."
How about hard copies of personal and financial documents? Even if you don't have them backed up, they may not be as important as you'd think, says Stephen Lovell, a certified financial planner in Walnut Creek, Calif.
Banking and insurance records are all kept by the companies involved, he says. Registered investment advisers and broker-dealers are required to be able to save and retrieve all pertinent information in an emergency, Mr. Lovell says. Many have backup information offsite, he says.
"Our office could essentially blow up and we could replicate it," he says. "All the investor needs… is to remember who their broker-dealer is and their adviser is."
In a real rush, he says, take your credit and ATM cards, cash, your driver's license and medicines. The license can serve as your identification, and you'll want fast access to money.
Of course, it can be easier to put your life back together if certain information is with you or somebody you trust. Some phone numbers to keep in one place, according to Mr. Lovell: emergency contacts, health-care providers, insurers, banks, your attorney. Some key documents to keep track of: birth certificate, marriage certificate, insurance records and policies, will, deed to your house, tax records, mortgage papers, vehicle titles, rental lease, appraisals, promissory notes, tax records, IRA records and pension records. It also helps to have the key to your safe-deposit box.
Besides documents and mementos, don't forget daily needs, like diapers and baby wipes.
Mr. Lovell has put together a duffel bag that he'd take along with him in the event of an earthquake or another emergency. Some of the items he's included are flashlights, maps, water, canned food, batteries, an extra pair of shoes -- and a book to read.
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