Organize your home for emergencies

By Kelly Becker
Herald Special Sections Writer

Plan, prioritize, prepare and practice.

Durango professional organizer Tracy Davoust uses the ‘P” plan to organize homes, which helps families be prepared for disaster.

Identifying the types of disasters you may face is crucial to good planning. Most plans will be based on something such as fire or flood, which means evacuation.

Cover the when, where and why of the crisis and decide upon a destination where the family can regroup, Davoust advises. This can help alleviate panic in the situation when you don’t know where your loved ones are.

Once you have created your plan, make sure you give a neighbor or friend a copy. Your plan will explain what your families’ priorities are. Include an out-of-state telephone contact person for all family members to call in the event the family gets separated and cannot meet at an agreed-upon destination.

Know your escape route – not only from the home but from the neighborhood. A disaster such as fire or flood may alter your route. Have alternatives in mind and written into your plan.

Preparing for the disaster should, of course, be done when it isn’t right in your face, according to Davoust. If your household is organized and your plan is well thought out and known by all family members, you will avoid undue stress and even panic.

Once you have emergency measures in place for your loved ones, turn next to prioritizing items in your home on a room by room basis. List items by rooms, indicating on the list both displayed items and non-displayed items.

Organize your important papers and photos. Videotape your home and do a written inventory, including serial numbers whenever possible. Focus on non-replaceable items.

Should you be forced to evacuate for an unknown length of time and if you have only enough warning to pack a few things, consider medications, personal hygiene items and a few days’ worth of clothing.

Once the dog, the cat, the children and spouse are in the vehicle, there probably won’t be room for that heirloom chair along with the suitcases and valuable papers and photos. You may have enough time to make a few trips to and from your home and can even place some things in storage units, but if you haven’t got that kind of time, be sensible about what is truly most important.

A big emphasis must be placed on practicing your plan, Davoust said. The stress of evacuating is difficult enough without trying to come up with a plan while you are in a state of near panic. Know the plan and practice it.