Preserving Your Family's Documents

In a disaster where you might have to leave your home quickly, important documents may be left behind and ultimately destroyed. Before the emergency occurs, decide which records are most essential to you and your family. One factor to consider is how readily a lost record could be replaced. Loss of some records could result in major financial damage (like tax records), or would be irreplaceable (like family photographs and historical documents).

The following is a list of the documents you should safeguard and be able to retrieve quickly to take with you.

Licenses or other IDs
Social Security Cards
Passports
Medical history information and health insurance cards
Immunization records
Birth, marriage and death certificates
Records of bank accounts
Credits card information
Insurance policies
A list of important or valuable belongings
Wills, contracts, deeds
Records of stocks, bonds or retirement accounts
Back up of key computer files

In order to ensure that you can quickly retrieve these documents, it is suggested that you:

Keep these documents (or copies of these documents) in a water or fire proof container with your disaster kit
Keep them in a safe place away from home, like a safe deposit box
Be sure trusted family members know where these items can be found

There are many ways to prepare your essential records for an emergency. Whatever method you use, remember to keep your records updated. At the very least, choose one day each year to make certain they are current and ready to evacuate.