As I return from helping people clean up after Hurricane Ian destroyed portions of their property I can’t stop thinking about what it would be like to lose my own home or my belongings to a burglar, roof leak, flood, tornado, fire, hail, fallen tree or even a car driving through my house. These things happen in Upstate SC all the time. They could happen to you! Would you be prepared to deal with the loss of or damage to your physical items?

The first step I’d take is to have less to lose by decluttering. I can certainly help you with that! Either way, to make it easier, imagine removing the items after they’ve been destroyed by fire or water and recognize how much easier it would be to do now while they’re in good condition. You can still pass items that you don’t want or need on to other people at this point! Otherwise, if they’re destroyed by a catastrophic loss, they’re immediately turned into trash.

Next, you’ll need to know what you lost in order to claim it all with insurance. Make an inventory of all your belongings and store it digitally so it can be accessed outside of your home. One of the easiest ways to do this is to take photos or videos of every room, closet, drawer and shelf in your house. If you have high value items you may even want to bring in an appraiser at this time.

No matter what, everyone should have a fireproof and waterproof safe for important documents and items. Particularly valuable items should be stored in a safe deposit box at an offsite location. Given enough warning, you’ll be able to bring these items with you should you have to evacuate. Or, if you have to vacate the premises after something terrible happens, it’s quite likely that the items in the safe will still be intact for your use.