We’re in the midst of hurricane season and this year is proving to be a disastrous one. After seeing the photos of the damage Hurricane Harvey left in its wake, we want to take this time to ensure our customers are protected against any potential loss—particularly when it comes to your precious print photos and memories.
So, in honor of National Preparedness Month and in the event of a catastrophic hurricane season, we compiled the following list of ways to ensure the protection of your valuables in a disaster. Take a look.
Store valuables somewhere safe
This might seem obvious, but we often forget to ensure the safety of our valuables in the shuffle of everyday life. Now’s the time to take an extra moment (or two) to make sure you’re storing your valuables in a safe place. If it’s money, jewelry, or other irreplaceable items, store them in a place that can withstand fires, floods, or earthquakes. This could be a fireproof and water-resistant home safe or you could set up a safety deposit box at a local bank.
[Tweet “Take an extra moment (or two) to make sure you’re storing your valuables someplace safe.”]
Our customers often store their family’s print photos in a cardboard box in the basement or attic. This method of storage is susceptible to all sorts of natural disasters, so we highly recommend a more bulletproof solution. Of course, this leads us to our next point.
Make backups and copies
Creating backups and copies ensures that your valuables are never truly lost, even if the original succumbs to a flood or fire. While this solution mostly works for important documents and photos, it can also be used for the more sentimental pieces of your home.
We had one customer who kept her late son’s room the way he last left it so she could always peek in and remember him. Eventually, she realized his room couldn’t last this way forever so she took several pictures of the room so she could look back at the room anytime and anywhere. The pictures she took were copies of her son’s room—a backup she could count on in case anything ever happened to her home. We’ve had other customers tell us they do something similar with sentimental items like trophies, birthday cards, and even stuffed animals. They can easily store and access the digital photos of those items to look back on at any time but this also prevents any natural disasters from completely erasing the memories of those items.
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Review the fine print on your insurance policy
Before we jump into this one, we cannot emphasize how important insurance is if you don’t have it. Homeowners or renters insurance is a safe bet for any living situation, so it might be time to consider it if you don’t have insurance.
With that said, sometimes insurance policies will only cover certain events. Your duty as a consumer is to triple-check that your home and belongings are covered during a natural disaster. For example, basic renters insurance in California covers things like theft, water damage, or fire. Still, you need to get specific coverage if you want to be covered in the event of an earthquake.
You never know when and where disaster might strike. Preparing, preventing, and preserving are the keys to minimizing and, in some cases, eliminating the potential for damage.
