DATA

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Protect your possessions

• Photograph your home and businesses and everything inside furniture, computers, TVs, etc. before a storm, so that you can document everything in case you have tofileaclaim.

• Store physical copies of documents, photos and digital storage devices in sturdy, waterproof containers or bags. Think hard plastic containers with locking lids. There are also waterproof and fireproof bags. Garbage and sandwich bags willfail.

•Don’t trytodragthatheavy,waterproof, fireproof safe into a shelter Scan the documents inside and leave it hidden at home but not on the floor, in case it floods. That’s also why you shouldn’t leave photo albums, a bottom drawer of files,

books,etc.onthefloor

• Make sure everyone in your household has a waterproof pouch to keep their smartphone safe and dry. They’ll need extra charging cables and chargers, especially if you evacuate.

• Your phone is also your best tool after a storm. Use it to photograph and document damage to your home, business, vehicles and everythingelseafterthestorm.

How to go digital

• Cloud storage is like an external hard drive, but on the internet. If you lose your home computer or phone, your data is still preserved somewhereawayfromthestorm.

• Having a smartphone means you already have access to such services. Apple iPhones are backed up via iCloud and Android phones use Google.

• Cloud storage can also be accessed from a laptop, desktop or tablet. Along with iCloud and Google Drive, there’s also Amazon Cloud

Drive, DropBox and Microsoft’s OneDrive. They all offer free storage, but you can pay for more space ifneeded.

• You can use an all-in-one printer to scan every document and save it as a PDF. There are also iOS and Android apps that can take a photo of documents and turn them into PDFs.

• Make sure your phone is automatically backing up the photos you take in the cloud (ask a knowledgeable person to double-check your phonesettingsorGoogleit.)

• Think about using two or more cloud services to back up your data, recordsandphotos,justincase.

• You could still back up your data the old-fashioned way by storing more copies on external hard drives and thumb drives. You could take them with you; leave extra backups at home (unplugged) in a safe, dry place; put them in a safety deposit box or mail them to a relative or friend. Those devices can be password-protected.

Preservation checklist

Aguidetotherecordsyoushouldtrytosave.

Personalrecords

•Anyhard-to-replacedocuments

•Birthcertificates,marriage licenses

•Citizenshippaperwork,green cards

•COVID-19vaccinationcards

•Disabilitydocuments

•Driver’slicenses,passports,militaryID,anyformsofidentification

•Healthinsurancecards

•Immunizationrecords

•Medicalrecords

•Prescriptions(papercopies,too, justincase)

•Printedcontactinformation(family,friends,neighbors,coworkers, insuranceproviders,medicalprovidersandsubcontractors)

•SocialSecuritycards.

Financialand propertyrecords

•Bankaccountnumbers,checks, accountstatements

•Creditcardnumbers,credit statements,customerservice numbers

•Deeds,leasesorrentalagreements

•Healthcaresurrogatedocument, signedandwitnessed

•Investment,retirementaccount records

•Power-of-attorneydocument, notarized

•Propertyinsurancepolicies

•Taxrecords

•Vehicleregistrations,titles,proof ofinsurance

•Wills.