Be Prepared

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

News of the devastating earthquake in Italy prompted Consumer Reports to remind readers about the importance of having and safeguarding certain financial documents. It put together a helpful list showing where to keep various documents.

A comprehensive, easily accessible list of emergency phone numbers should be part of every household’s emergency preparedness plan as well. I learned that the hard way on a recent evening when we noticed that our kitchen faucet wasn’t producing much in the way of hot water. A quick visit to the basement showed water spraying out of the top of our three-year-old water heater (a far cry from a disaster such as an earthquake, I realize). It took me way too long to locate an after-hours number for a nearby plumber. The good news is that once I reached someone, he calmly diagnosed the problem over the phone, was honest enough to tell me that the problem could wait until morning to fix (saving on the cost of a Sunday night visit), and walked me through a short-term solution. Now I have a list of emergency numbers stuck to our refrigerator and programmed into my cell phone. Do you have a list of emergency phone numbers handy?

Categories: Planning

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