Calculating The True Cost Of Disaster Preparedness
This article breaks down the true cost of disaster preparedness, both in terms of your initial investment and ongoing maintenance cost. It also presents different scenarios where you might incur a higher or lower rate.
The article also goes on to explore the possibility of insurance companies paying for some or all of these expenses if you are in the right situation. So, even though it's a little bit complicated, read on to find out what investments and costs might save you money in the long run!
To put it simply: Disaster Preparedness is one of those things that sounds like an expense but ends up saving you money because something bad really could happen.
Consider the following hypothetical scenarios:
You live in a flood-prone area, but are not permanently flooded – so you never have to go through the process. You simply invest in a few flood prevention products, and everything's fine. You live in a flood-prone area, but your basement floods every year but it doesn't affect your living space – so you never have to go through the process. Again, you can simply invest in some basic products in case of flooding. You live in a flood-prone area and it floods 3 times per year – every single year. You have to pay to clean up every time and sometimes you lose a bunch of stuff. You have no flood insurance. You have no flood insurance and you don't invest in any products – so you're out of pocket for all the cleaning and repairs.
As you can see, simply investing in the right products can save you thousands of dollars over the years, even if the costs are hundreds. And if something does happen, it's going to save your life – so it's worth investing in!
This article will explore these different scenarios so that we know how much disaster preparedness actually costs for everyone.
We'll start off by looking at the costs of the products – then we'll look at the costs of insurance. Finally, we'll look at some scenarios where you might pay a higher rate.
DISASTER PREPAREDNESS PRODUCTS
This first section will break down the products I've purchased and what I feel are necessary to prepare for major emergencies. If your area isn't as prone to flooding, you might also want to skip ahead to the insurance section.
You can…
Purchase this pretty-looking door barricade made by Home Depot if your place is prone to flooding. To be honest though, it's really not necessary if you have a basement or crawl space that floods every time. Most of the time water comes up through the ground and enters your home through the foundation, which means that this isn't going to do anything. All you're doing is preventing a few inches of water from coming up (in case of flooding). If you want to go big on flood prevention, though, then this is a great investment.
If you're worried about earthquakes, then you should invest in some earthquake kits. I've invested in the Red Cross Earthquake Kit and I'm really happy with it. It has everything an earthquake would need to survive an event like that Рfood packets, water purification tablets, first aid supplies and more Рall contained in a safe plastic bag and easy to build in 6 minutes. This would be perfect for my fianc̩ and I if we were ever in an earthquake.
The best thing about this kit is that the food pack is reusable! You can use the same exact foods again if you find yourself in a foreign city during the event and need to survive. This would be great for someone who was turning vegetarian on a budget – it has lots of different healthy food options that won't break the bank.
This next product is also pretty amazing, but there's no way to expect it to help you survive an earthquake or flood: It's batteries. These are actually reasonably priced, and they come in handy after natural disasters destroy your power or your battery dies on you. They come in a variety of sizes, which is nice.
The final product I'd be remiss to talk about is this solar lamp. It's a bit expensive, but solar lamps are pretty amazing because they allow you to send Morse code or flash a light in the event of an emergency. So not only will it let your family know that you're okay, but it could also be used for rescue or during a zombie apocalypse. (This does not come with the kit though.)
INSURANCE
Since we're talking about disaster preparedness and insurance plans, let's look at some of the more standard plans you'll want to purchase now: Flood insurance, earthquake insurance and health insurance.
I've selected these options because they are the ones that I feel the vast majority of people should buy. However, there's an option available in almost all states called the "Basic" plan. This plan will provide you with some coverage for most disasters or events. Although I would definitely suggest that you purchase your standard plan before moving on to this one.
Flood Insurance
The best flood insurance is provided by either your home state or by FEMA. The state version usually costs less, and they cover more areas.
Here's a breakdown of the prices for people living in certain areas:
I would suggest getting flood insurance (or checking with your homeowner's association to see if they offer it) before you buy any of your other products, because if you have flood insurance and you're not flooded, then you're out of luck! You're going to be paying hundreds every six months plus interest. So definitely go with flood insurance before anything else.
Earthquake Insurance
Earthquake insurance is offered by Mutual of Omaha and through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The NFIP plan is only for disaster preparedness because you can't really purchase a plan with them.
Here's a breakdown of the prices for people living in certain areas:
I would suggest getting earthquake insurance before you get anything else, as this is the most common natural disaster and will likely hit at some point. Plus it's pretty affordable, so there's no reason not to. However, just make sure that you're covered by your mortgage company first – they often offer earthquake insurance as part of their package!
Health Insurance
Health insurance is probably the most important one of all, but if you're on Medicare or Medicaid then you don't need to worry about it.
Conclusion
There are definitely a lot of things in this article, so I'll try to break it all down into a few different sections. Although, you may want to read this article over in its entirety before jumping into any of the other sections.
If you have any questions please leave them in the comments section below.
Thanks! Elaina R. 03/23/15
For this article we'll be using the following: Blue Cross, WellPoint, United Healthcare both Blue Cross and VantageSource Purchase and review products from Home Depot – all where I live For my earthquake kit, I was able to purchase from www.REDcrossshop.