I has been a rough couple of weeks here in Santa Cruz, where I live, and all over the fair state of California as more than 500 wildfires burn, displacing families and wildlife and causing widespread devastation. Here in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the CZU Lightning Complex, as it is known, is just over 20% contained as of this writing, with tens of thousands of residents under evacuation orders and many homes still under threat. Firefighters from around the country have come to assist, but with so many fires across the state, resources are stretched, to be sure.
I have spent the last two weeks, checking in with friends, neighbors and clients whose homes have been at risk or even lost as well as making sure my family was prepared to evacuate if the winds changed. Suddenly, priorities came into clear focus. What is most important? Family, pets, neighbors, irreplaceable memories.
As our amazing team of skilled firefighters continue to bring this fire under control and our community begins to sort through the rubble, I thought I would take this moment, while the smoke is in the air and the grief is beginning to take hold, to document some practical steps we can all take to be prepared as we navigate this and future fire seasons together.
Get Your Stuff In Order
If you have not reviewed your insurance policies in a while, do it now. Focus on making sure you have the right amount of coverage, not the cheapest coverage. Consider updating your household inventory and documentation of valuables, furnishings and home improvements in case you need to file a claim for loss.
If you have not done your Estate Planning, do it now. Make sure your loved ones are protected and your wishes will be carried out.
Put key documents in a place you can access - Birth Certificates, Marriage Licenses, Property Titles and Deeds, Passports, Social Security Cards, Wills, Trusts and Powers of Attorney - these things are difficult to replace and may come to be necessary in times of disaster.
Figure out a better system for keeping track of your accounts and online logins. If you are still keeping your passwords on a scrap of paper, consider moving to a secure password vault.
Create a plan and know what to do if you ever need to evacuate your home. Folks at the Community Medicine Cabinet in Santa Rosa, CA have created this Fire Preparedness Checklist. I will admit that I have not yet done everything on this list, but it is very helpful to have a basic guide to follow.
Pack that “Go Bag”
Encourage every member of your family to pack a bag with 2 or 3 changes of clothes, clean socks and underwear, some basic toiletries and have it in a location that can be grabbed in a hurry.
First Aid Kit and Prescription Medicine Inventory. If anyone in your family has vital medicines to take, even pets, be sure you have the prescription up to date, that you have an adequate supply on hand and that you know where to grab them on a moment’s notice.
Have a three day supply of food and water handy for everyone in your family.
Think through what you would do if you had 15/30/60 minutes to get out safely. This exercise was very helpful for my family as we faced a real possibility of evacuation last week. We had the go-bags, pet carriers and important documents by the door and then created plans for what we would do if we had the luxury of more time to pack out keepsakes and valuables.
I am a planner by nature. Once the immediate shock of an unfolding disaster became clear, I needed to do some real-time planning and preparing. It was in this moment that I realized my plan was not as tight as it should be. As the coming days and weeks unfold, my community will be facing loss, grief, coming together and rebuilding. I hope that as we do this difficult work, we will all take steps to ensure we stay safe, care for each other and get ourselves as prepared as we can for the next challenge.
