Disaster evacuation plans should include your financial records

By Eileen Alt Powell
Associated Press

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Filling an evacuation box The California Society of Enrolled Agents says items in an evacuation box should include: Copies of recent tax returns. A copy of the deed to your home, and a list of major improvements and their cost. Copies of birth certificates, citizenship papers, Social Security cards. Copies of drivers' licenses, car titles and registrations. A list of prescription medications, along with phone numbers for doctors and pharmacies. Negatives of important family photos. Copies of insurance policies. Important phone numbers. Bank, credit card and other important account numbers.

With the arrival of hurricane season, it's something to think about.

"If you aren't prepared, you end up in a position trying to put your papers back together when you're already dealing with other stresses," said Jeremy Streeter, an enrolled agent in the Los Angeles area.

He added that having records in hand will make it easier to file insurance claims and to seek government disaster relief.

Streeter, chairman of the disaster committee of the California Society of Enrolled Agents, recommends that families living in disaster-prone areas consider keeping copies of important papers in an "evacuation box" that they can grab when they're leaving their home for safety.

An alternative is to keep documents in a safe deposit box or to send copies to a relative or friend who lives well away from the threatened region.

"Keeping copies at an alternate site is a good idea," said Streeter. "Unfortunately, it's one of those things people are always going to get around to doing, but don't."

That may seem a bit daunting, Streeter admits, but the alternative is laborious reconstruction.

"Frankly, floods are the worst," he said. "They turn papers into papier-mache."

The California Society of Enrolled Agents, which represents agents licensed by the government to assist consumers with their taxes, has a list of items that should go into an evacuation box — and procedures for reconstructing records that have been destroyed — on its Web site at www.csea.org. The lists also are available free to consumers who send self-addressed, stamped envelopes to the society at 3200 Ramos Circle, Sacramento, CA, 95827-2513.

Jeanne M. Salvatore of the Insurance Information Institute in New York said families need to think about an evacuation kit that includes "a bit of cash, bottled water, prescription medicines — things you need that you might not be able to get."

Homeowners insurance in most cases covers damage from fires and windstorms, such as hurricanes and tornadoes.

Floods and earthquakes generally require special policies or endorsements.

The institute provides information about disaster insurance on its Web site, www.insurance.info.