Peace of Mind Organizing

Are you prepared for a disaster?

4 May 2011

Here in St. Louis, we’ve taken shelter in the basement because of tornadoes at least five times this year, including the tornado on April 22 that flattened whole blocks of homes (and damaged the airport). Less than a week after that, Alabama suffered much greater tragedy in a series of tornadoes that killed 300 people.

It’s not just tornadoes, of course. In recent times we’ve seen earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes…all these disasters that aren’t within our control and can’t really be foreseen.

What we can control, though, is how prepared we are. I have to admit that I’m not particularly prepared and the idea of listening to a talk or reading an article (or blog post) about disaster preparedness can make me feel stressed.

But at the NAPO conference last month, I attended Margaret Lukens’ talk called, Peace of Mind in the Face of Disaster—Preparing Clients for Any Emergency. Margaret is owner of Preparation Nation a business that helps people prepare for disaster. (Full disclosure: Margaret’s a good friend of mine and was one of my conference roommates.) The talk was fantastic (if you’re interested, you can buy a recording of it at VW Tapes.)

One of the biggest takeaways for me was this great tip that Margaret shared:

If disaster strikes, change the outgoing message on your cell phone to let people know you’re okay (or if you’re not, what your status is) and where you are. That way, if your cell phone battery dies or if cell service in your area is disrupted, people can get information.

Another big takeaway was the need to have all my important documents in one place so I can grab them if I ever need to evacuate my home. I’m talking about stuff that’s irreplaceable or stuff that I would need during a disaster, like home owner’s insurance information. I could imagine that people who rely on medications might need their medications list handy as well.

Margaret’s a big fan of the Vital Records PortaVault, a binder that helps you compile and keep safe vital information and document. (Margaret’s such a fan that she has a business relationship with PortaVault.) She’s having a Get It Done Teleclass on May 14, during which you can put together your own Porta Vault and take a big step toward being ready for disaster.

I get overwhelmed when I think about disaster preparation. But one thing I learned from Margaret’s talk is that it’s not an all-or-nothing proposition. Like so many other things, it’s better to something than nothing. I think gathering documents can be a great first step.

Tagged with: disaster preparedness, margaret lukens

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