Get organised

Consider coverage for:

• health
• pet
• car
• home and contents
• income protection
• business and life.

Having adequate insurance cover can help you avoid major financial stresses related to your home, business, health or income.

• Passports
• Wills
• Driver’s licences
• Birth and marriage certificates
• Immigration documents
• Land titles and mortgage
• Insurance documents
• Prescriptions

Identifying yourself, proving ownership of your home/car and providing details for your insurance cover can become a real headache without the original paperwork or copies of it.

Storing digital copies of your documents helps keep them protected and accessible from any internet‑connected device, which can be crucial during an emergency evacuation, and you can choose whichever cloud‑storage products best fit your needs.

Consider what your animals need for a week (food and medication) and how you would identify, transport and accommodate them. It is also smart to have a plan in case you can’t make it home.

People have lost their lives going home to get their animals. Knowing they are safe during and after an emergency can reduce your stress and save your life.

If you have a baby and/or young children, consider their specific needs. Evacuation centres may not be set up to meet their needs.

Think about the essentials you need and pack these in your survival kit.

Those who are formula-feeding need supplies so that they can feed their baby even if they don’t have access to tap water for reconstitution or washing. This means having enough baby bottles for a single use for a few days, or disposable cups for feeding.

Copies of important documents such as birth certificates and infant health and immunisation records should be included in your emergency kit and saved to cloud storage, along with significant milestone photos and videos.

Have suitable food and medication in your survival kit, particularly for children with allergies as specialist food is rarely available at evacuation centres.

Be able to quickly locate some favourite toys can help keep little ones who don’t really understand what is happening happier in difficult circumstances.

There are items in our lives that shape our identity. Saving precious items or keepsakes can help with recovery when you lose everything, because it protects the links to the past and brings comfort.

Think about the important items in your life that would cause distress if they were lost. Ask each of the family to identify theirs.

Make a list or draw a map of your house to identify were each of these are eg wedding photos in hall cupboard

Can they easily be removed? Get an additional box or bag that you can easily carry and put smaller items.

Work out how you might protect them if they can’t be removed easily.

Make copies or take photos of items.