How to Prepare for a Home Fire, High Water or other kind of Evacuation

The time to start preparing is Now - before there is an emergency. 

Waiting until a emergency situation happens in which you are likely to leave behind important items and documents. 

Please take your time and follow or check the following points to prepare yourself, your home, and your family for a potential evacuation 

I am writing this because I learned the hard way - my house and home was flood-affected in 2016 by heavy rain - no river in our area - and with in 1 hour around of our house we had more than 1 meter (about 1 yard) at our terrace door. And then in 2020 we lost our home by a house fire. Sometime one has a monopoly on bad luck.

My suggestions:

• Ensure that all household members know two ways to escape from every room of your home and know the family meeting spot outside of your home.
• Install the right number of smoke alarms at least one per room. And please Smoke alarms are available for people who are deaf or those with profound hearing loss. These alarms use strobe lights to wake the person. 
• And please check them once per month or quarter of the year and replace the batteries at least once a year - I do it between Christmas and New Year. And explain and teach your children what smoke alarms sound like and what to do when they hear one. 
• Establish a family emergency communications plan if you have a bigger house and ensure that all household members know who to contact if they cannot find one another.
• Make sure everyone knows how to call the fire department or the police.
• Make copies of important documents and pictures and keep a copy of them at a friends or relatives house. And or scan them and save it in the cloud. And finally Put the originals in a fire resistant safe.

And furthermore I suggest put next to your fire resistant safe   a  emergency kit / box that includes the following items:

• Prescription medications
• First-aid supplies
• Flashlight
• Wallet, and duplication of keys and identification 
• and  other Important documents which aren't already in your fire resistant safe

I hope you and yours will never need it - but as we never know what the future will look like - be prepared.