With hurricane Katrina and the tsunami in Sumatra in 2004, natural disasters are beginning to take root in the forefront of the public mind. Believe it or not, there are still many people who are not prepared to face the aftermath of a natural disaster.

There are scores of natural disasters every year including hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, tsunamis and more. Being prepared for a disaster is one of the most important things you can do for you and your family or business. Some important things to remember when getting prepared:

1. Check with your local and state government to learn how to deal with natural disaster in your area

2. In risk management, natural disasters are at the top of the list in many insurance companies

3. Help organize your neighborhood for natural disaster preparedness

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Buy insurance for the most common natural disasters

Insurance is the best way to protect your assets. While making sure you remain solvent after a disaster, remember that your family or your employees are the most important things to take care of. Having insurance will help ensure that you have covered your costs.

I recommend: Flooding claims are among the highest insurance claims in the United States. Floodsmart.gov offers a flood risk assessment and the chance to buy flood insurance for your area. One of the best references for insurance is FEMA, offering the ability to find local insurance agents based on your zip code.

Put together a survival pack for a natural disaster

As much as we don't like to think about natural disasters, the natural disaster business has appeared to help the average person prepare for a natural disaster. You can purchase single person survival packs or enough packs to take care of all your employees.

I recommend: The Ready Store offers a great selection of survival packs for the individuals and business owners. If you are at your business and natural disasters strike, hopefully you've already shopped at SurvivalPacks. They have a selection of office related survival kits and a natural disasters business guide. This can help you learn about preparing your office for a natural disaster.

Plan ahead with natural disaster management planning

The effect of natural disasters on businesses and families is devastating. The most important thing to prepare for any kind of natural disaster is to plan. There are some great resources out there to help you and your family or business plan for what we all hope never happens.

I recommend: To download a family plan for emergencies, visit Ready America. They also have lots of information regarding planning for home, school and workplace disasters. The Disaster Survival Planning Network offers a number of different products geared toward planning for a disaster. Additional information on planning and survival kits is available in other areas of their site.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  A natural disaster is one of the worst possible things that can happen. Take a weekend and make a plan, get supplies and otherwise prepare for natural disasters. It could just save some lives.