some of us only just hear about extreme
disasters in the news we are looking at
imminent landfall of this storm others
have lived through it it was rough i
heard noises that i will never forget in
just the summer of 2021 nearly one in
three americans experienced a weather
disaster
and with the planet warming and more
extreme weather events occurring it
won't be too long until more of us will
have to go through it too the climate is
getting more hostile and today the un
said it is already too late to stop some
of the devastating impacts of climate
change it's not if a disaster will
strike it's when i mean look at what
happened in new york and new jersey
so being prepared can be the thing that
saves your life and even some of your
things
you can do things like sign up for
alerts on your phone or pack a go bag
there are accessible resources like
ready.gov that will have a more in-depth
checklist of things you can do to
prepare but checking off items is the
easy part it's the leaving your home and
possibly losing what you left behind
that takes an emotional toll no one is
ever really prepared for
as you can see it's like there's just a
lot of stuff and
it
i don't know you just kind of leave
hoping that it'll all be okay
this is jenny waldo she's had to
evacuate from hurricanes harvey katrina
and ike the family photos are right here
the kids
friends and stuff family it would be
sad to lose it you know
for me when i think about it it's not so
much just the sentimental stuff that you
lose but it's also just the
the inconvenience and the the stress of
of all the little things like when we
were katrina evacuees like
we were really lucky because my
husband's job put us up in
um like corporate housing so like it was
a furnished apartment but we didn't have
plates and we didn't have pots and pans
and we didn't have forks when we were
driving with my kids you know there was
just that really
stark
feeling of you know the only thing that
matters is is us you know it's like your
life and your kids lives and you know
that kind of stuff so
i have spent my entire life taking care
of these animals and it felt
like
leaving them abandoning them would be
like the captain leaving a ship as it
sank and that's just not something you
do
this is megan brown she's a sixth
generation rancher in northern
california and she's had to evacuate
from several wildfires
there he is there's my big boy
oh it's so hot it's so hot
hi bub
really just making sure that they're
okay was my first priority like my house
could have burned down that would have
been fine but as long as the animals
were okay that was that's what i was
most worried about and when i watched
the fire engulfed the ranch i could see
things that i thought was the barn catch
on fire and that's when i absolutely
just started losing it
then the next morning i saw saw that was
still here and it was so exciting
i've never been so happy in my life
recovering after disaster is probably
the hardest step physically emotionally
and financially for brown the cherokee
fire in 2017 caused the most damage to
her property four million dollars worth
of damage
while you can't always predict when
disaster will strike and how much you'll
lose here are some actionable steps you
can start taking today
first things first pack an emergency go
bag everyone's bag will look a little
different but should contain the same
essentials a three-day supply of water
typically this means a gallon per day
per person a three-day supply of food
this should be non-perishable foods like
canned goods or cereal bars blankets and
pillows keep these in sealed ziploc bags
so they don't get wet seasonal
comfortable clothing you'll need a
change of clothes but the type of
clothing will be different depending on
where you are tools flashlights and a
radio
pack extra batteries while you're at it
too extra cash important documents and
first aid kits make sure to keep the
cash and documents in ziploc bags any
documents or family photos you can't
carry you should upload online or look
into keeping them in a safety deposit
box
personal hygiene and health items and
any prescriptions you'll need
entertainment if you're evacuated for
long periods of time you're gonna get
bored so bring a book if you have kids
bring some toys too but of course a
backpack won't be able to fit everything
you own there's always the risk that you
will lose some of your possessions so be
sure to check your insurance policy and
see exactly what it covers for example
you may need to enroll in extra policies
like flood insurance especially if
you're in a flood prone area and before
the disaster take stock of everything
you own the easiest way to do this is to
take photos of your entire house so that
if it comes to the point in which you
need to file a lost claim to your
insurance company you can itemize
exactly what was lost and if you own a
home make sure to maintain the property
keep the gutters clean know how to turn
the water and gas off or when you
renovate consider also making safety
improvements like fire resistant roofing
and after you do what you need to do to
prepare tell a friend or neighbor so
that we may all be a little bit more
prepared today than we were yesterday
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you