Emergency Preparedness

Are you prepared to evacuate?

Emergency Preparedness in Sonoma County. It’s a hot topic !!

Are you overwhelmed with all the articles, blasts, podcasts and webinars on how to prepare for an emergency? I know I am! The SF Chronicle put out an entire disaster planning guide in this week’s Sunday paper (sfchronicle.com/survival).

My desk is littered (yes, this professional organizer has piles on the desk from time to time) of literature regarding emergency preparedness information, from escape plans to sheltering in place, fires, floods, biological or radiological emergencies, and the list goes on.

After living in NYC during 9/11 and Hurricane Sandy – and being a professional organizer, my survival instincts are strong. We arrived in California four years ago and all I heard about was the drought. We brought the rains with us because every winter that we’ve been here has been so wet, there have been record-breaking rains and subsequent flooding.

From now until January 1st, 2020 if you mention this post you’ll save 10% if you book time with us!

How do I help my clients handle the overwhelm of preparing for emergencies? There are some variables, depending on where you live – are you far off the grid or in a heavily populated area? I’ve had some clients move because they only had one access road to a very private home in the woods or up dirt roads and they didn’t like the escape options.

Some of my clients are seniors who just don’t have the energy or wherewithal to put together a “to go” bag.

I actually wrote out this list at one of my decluttering workshops for attendees who were so happy to have something to take home that looked easy enough to do.

Emergency Preparedness List

Food/Water

All Available ID

Passport
Driver’s License
Social Security Card
Birth Certificate

Insurance Information

Health
Home
Life
Auto

Prescription List

Reading Glasses

Dental Supplies – Hygiene and Appliances

Comfy Shoes

Suitcase of Clothes

Cash

Phone/Tablet/Laptop Charger
Download the list

As a Professional Organizer, I suggest these tips:

Statistics show that we wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time. Take some of the 80% of clothes that you don’t want to let go of but don’t usually wear and put them in the old suitcase that you still have that you never travel with anymore.

Start with the extra pair of comfy old sneakers, add some layers, shorts, jeans, tee-shirts, a couple of sweaters, a warm hat and sun hat, scarf, gloves, underwear, and PJs. We ALL have some comfy-cozy stuff in the back of the drawer that we can’t part with.

Put all these in that old suitcase with some spare toiletries, a few hundred dollars in small bill cash), if you need reading glasses, throw in some cheap ones from the dollar store, a towel or two and any extra medical supplies you might need. Boom! There is your clothing “to go” emergency bag.

I also suggest to clients that they make copies of all their important documents and put them in the cloud or on a thumb drive and mail to a family member in another state. Include copies of driver’s license, social security card, birth certificate, will, estate plan, insurance information, account numbers, medical information, power of attorney, durable/medical POA, prescriptions.

And don’t forget the pets!! If you have pets or farm animals, you want to have plans for them and copies of any important documents that you might need for them if you are away from home.

More Information can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf_eqQ9lDMY&feature=youtu.be (Sonoma County)

If you need help creating your Emergency Preparedness Plan, please contact us!

From now until January 1st, 2020 if you mention this post you’ll save 10% if you book time with us!

We offer a complimentary phone consultation on how we can help you get your reality organized!