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Natural Disasters: Preparing for disasters

December 31, 2024

No place in the world is disaster proof. Mother Nature unleashes her horrors globally and year-round via hurricanes, tornadoes, wild fires, floods, blizzards and more.

This special Natural Disasters Preparation Page, part of the overall Storm Warnings collection of Don’t Mess With Taxes blog posts about disasters and the associated tax implications, provides information on what you should do to get ready when Mother Nature is about to turn into Mommy Dearest.

So, since time is of the essence when a natural disaster is bearing down on you, here goes with ways to get ready for the various catastrophes that many of us will face at some point in our lives.

 

Preparation

Being prepared is the absolute best first move. Trust me, the hubby and I have been through a couple of hurricanes and our pre-storm planning made dealing with the aftermath much more tolerable.

The National Hurricane Center says when preparing for the natural disaster on which it focuses, you need to develop a family plan, have a place to go to ride out the storm, secure your home and have a pet plan.

All of those apply to every type of disaster.

On the physical front, make sure you family members in potential harm’s way know what y’all plan to do in case of a storm.

Where will you go? Stay at home or go to relatives’ homes or a shelter? Which relatives? Where is the nearest shelter? Does it accept pets?

Make sure every family member knows his or her role in storm preparation and recovery. Also make clear the steps each takes if your family is separated, for example at work or school, when the disaster hits. Also give every family member a list of important telephone numbers.

For disasters that could require you to do without electricity for a while, have an emergency kit that includes shelf-stable food and plenty of water, not only for drinking but also sanitary use. Don’t forget that hand-held can opener! And lots of batteries or converters that can plug into your car’s lighter or special outlet for radios and TVs as well as your cell phone.

You also need a financial disaster kit.

Have a credit card with a large enough credit balance to cover an extended stay at a motel if you have to leave your home and friends and family can’t take you in, at least for the full term of your displacement.

Have some cash on hand. Your temporary relocation site might not be near a fee-free ATM. If power is out, retailers won’t be able to process credit or debit transactions.

Have your insurance documents, for both coverage of your home and autos, handy. Make sure you have your insurance cards and numbers of your agents in case you need to make a claim. And don’t forget your medical insurance material in case, God forbid, you need treatment during or after the disaster.

Round up all your other financial documents, such as bank statements, credit card bills, family records (birth, marriage, death certificates), photocopies of credit and identification cards and an inventory of your home, including both the items inside and your surrounding property.

Tax records definitely should be in your financial disaster go-kit. If you do have to file claims for disaster damage, this data will help.

The Don’t Mess With Taxes posts below have more details. If you noted this page’s posting date of Dec. 31, 2024, you’ll also see that newer posts (listed first below) are after that date.

Also, some of the older/oldest posts, especially those pegged to specific storm situations, now link to the ol’ blog’s Tax Policy in a Disaster page where you can find the most recent information.

Looking for more or other disaster info? Check out the separate Storm Warnings pages on steps to make your recovery smoother and quicker, how to donate to groups that help disaster survivors, general storm stories and information, and additional disaster resources.

And if in the list on this page you ran into a 404 Page Not Found link, sorry. I’m sure it was a good post, but some older ones didn’t make the move back in 2025 to the ol’ blog’s current hosting service. But their info likely was sued in new storm-related posts that you can find in the Tax Policy in Disasters category.

 

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TO WRAP UP 2026

It’s over! With October’s extended filing deadline behind us, it is now time to focus on year-end moves to reduce your 2026 tax bill. 

You’ll find ways to do just that on the Tax Tips page (see the More Tax Posts drop-down menu at the top of the blog), as well as the separate tax tip pages for each month, notably October through December. If you’re on the Tax Tips page, you’ll find a monthly list at the end of this column. If you’re on another blog page, you can head straight to the October tips; at the bottom of that tips page you’ll find links to all the other 11 months’ collections of tax advice.

Not to spoil what you’ll find in that tax advice, but it does cover such things as tax deductions for charitable donations, investment moves that could reduce tax due, and ways to max out your tax-favored retirement savings. 

Finally, as the year winds down, things get hectic. There are lots of other things to occupy our time, like the much more fun upcoming holidays. But don’t lose sight of taxes, since timing is key. To be of use, most tax moves must be made by the end of the tax year. That’s Thursday, Dec. 31, which also is the last business day of the year. 

So that you don’t miss that final tax year deadline, also keep an eye on the countdown clock below. It will keep you on top of just how much time is left to make important, tax-saving moves. (Note: I’m in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.)

Credits/Deductions
Disasters
Family
Filing and Paying Taxes
Politics/Laws
Refunds
State Taxes
Tax Brackets/Inflation
Tax Tips
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