My Yahoo!Finance column that posts August 28 looks at protecting yourself in a disaster. I wanted to add a few details here suggested by ready.gov, a Homeland Security website and the Red Cross:  

1. Plan a home escape route. 

2. Establish a meeting place where family members can gather in the case of emergency – a local school or church. Click here for a printable emergency plan to help you plan. 

3. Agree to a contact who lives out of state to coordinate communications if you can’t reach each other. Carry in your wallet a card with the out-of-state contact’s name, address and phone numbers. Carry a pre-paid phone card with enough cash on it for several calls, in the event cell phones are not working.   

4. Get a copy of the emergency plan for your child’s school to keep in your desk at work. Post emergency numbers – fire, police, ambulance – near the phone.  

5. Create an emergency kit with enough food and water for three days (one gallon of water per person per day). Keep a small disaster supply kit in your car trunk. Click here for a checklist of what to keep in your kit.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 at 6:14 am and is filed under disaster planning, risk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.