By Karen MacNutt,
Contributing Editor

When the TV said a city water main had broken, I didn't give it much thought. Then my minister's wife called.

"It's awful," she said. "Something awful has happened." Someone died, I thought. "The church," she said sobbing.

"Did it burn?" I asked.

"No, it's filled with water."

The broken water main had dumped three feet of water into the lower hall. "It's not so bad," I said. "No one was hurt and we can replace most of what was lost."

A week later the world saw what "awful" really is when hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. I was amazed at how many of the people interviewed on TV were waiting for someone to take care of them rather than attempting to help themselves. Everyone pointed fingers of blame at someone else.

It is easy to criticize. It is harder to do. No one wants to believe that disasters can really happen. No matter how much you plan, nothing prepares a community for the type of devastation heaped on the Gulf Coast. As bad as it was, it could have been worse.

We should learn the following lessons from disasters:

• 1. As powerful and important as we think we are, we are nothing in the face of nature;
• 2. You must be prepared to take care of yourself and your family without the help of government;
• 3. You must work with and look after your neighbors, and
• 4. Disaster planning is a local matter. Each community must be prepared to put its own plan into place and then go to the aid of its neighbors.

In the 1950s, civil defense plans for a nuclear attack assumed no one would come to help. People would have to survive on their own for weeks. Canned or dried food, candy, candles, matches, a first aid kit, and even books were suggested equipment for shelters. Shelters had fifty gallon drums to hold fresh drinking water to be drained from pipes, hot water heaters and even toilet tank reserves. Once empty, the drums could be used for human waste.

By the time this article comes out, the media will have produced numerous stories on emergency preparedness. Families should have a place or person that each member of the family should go to or call. Those who survive a disaster should go to that place or contact that person as soon as possible so the rest of the family knows who is all right and who is missing.

The fact some people loot should not be a surprise. Whenever the symbols of authority disappear, the worst people in our society take advantage of the weak. Every emergency survival plan should include a means of self-defense from bad people and from animals. Of course we in New England, with our long tradition of getting snowed in during the winter, don't have much trouble with people looting for food during a weather emergency. As soon as a bad forecast is announced folks binge buy so by the time the storm arrives there is nothing left in the stores worth looting.

Disruption caused by natural disasters can occur at any time. Having extra food and water on hand, having emergency lighting, batteries, a battery powered radio, a first aid kit, and some extra cash in the house are all important. If you are required to take medication, you should have some extra on hand. Insurance companies, unfortunately, will not pay for more than a week or two of extra medication.

You want to think about how you store your most prized possessions. It may make the difference in your being able to retrieve family heirlooms after a disaster. Those steel military ammo cans with the rubber gaskets are practically indestructible and are waterproof. Steel containers, however, are not good for fire. The steel holds the heat and incinerates anything inside the container. If you have a safe, it should be waterproof as well as fireproof. If the floor burns out in a bad fire, the safe will fall to the basement. The basement will be filled with water from fire fighting efforts.

It is a good idea to have a list of your important documents. Many lawyers ask their clients to make such lists as part of an estate plan. Things such as the names, account numbers and location of bank accounts, brokerage or other investments, bonds and insurance policies are important. Personal information such as birth records and social security numbers; the location of safety deposit boxes and other such information should also be listed. Often this information is left with the attorney or with the person who will be executor. It is a good idea to keep a copy of the list somewhere outside of your home. The list can help reconstruct your financial life if you lose your house. It is also a good idea to keep a copy of your homeowner's insurance policy some place outside your house. If your house is a total loss, proving your coverage may be important if the insurance company is reluctant to cover the loss.

Not all insurance policies cover all risks. Learn about your insurance before a loss. You can negotiate the terms of your policy. You can add riders to obtain more coverage. Once a loss occurs, you are stuck with whatever coverage you had at the time of the loss.

You should review your policy to make sure your coverage has kept up with changes in valuation. Insurance companies will generally insure your house for its replacement value, not its fair market value. Even if your house is a total loss, you still have the land. The rule of thumb is that 20% of your home's fair market value is in the land, not the structure. The insurance on the contents of the house is usually a percentage of the replacement value of the house rather than the actual value of the contents. If you feel your contents are worth more, you need a rider to your policy.

Over the years building methods have changed. What was a standard building practice in 1920 is considered premium construction today. If your insurance is not for premium construction, you may find that your company will not pay to replace decorative wooden moldings, hardwood floors, real plaster ceilings and walls because these things are now considered premium construction.

Sometimes policies do not pay for "upgrades." Older construction is "grandfathered." That means if your house met building code standards when it was built, you generally do not have to upgrade your house to meet current code requirements. When you have a loss, however, your repair will have to meet current building code requirements. Meeting those requirements can be very costly and many insurance policies will not pay the added cost. The insurance companies call building to current code requirements an "improvement" which is not covered by the policy. That is not to say you can not make improvements; that is just to say the insurance company may not pay for them. The bottom line is the insurance company may not give you enough money to rebuild. That creates a second problem. If your house is heavily financed, the mortgage holder may give you an unpleasant surprise. Buried within many mortgages is a provision that allows the mortgage holder to take the proceeds of the insurance claim until you have rebuilt or to apply them against the outstanding mortgage. You must be prepared to show the mortgage holder that you can rebuild a structure that will equal the value of their mortgage or they may just apply the insurance proceeds to their debt and leave you with charred ruins in a cellar hole.

When you plan to rebuild, you must include those required upgrades in your projections or you will run out of money before you make the house habitable. It is therefore very important that you get every penny you can from things that are covered by your policy. Often the money from things such as the loss of your furniture and relocation expenses is the money that allows you to rebuild. Apply the money you get to the most important things first. The most important things are: a good foundation, a weather tight shell, a heating system, a plumbing system with one working bath room, all the pipes and wiring you will ever need set up in the walls, and a basic kitchen. With those things you can move in. You can always add the finished walls, carpeting and a dishwasher later.

As intimidating as it appears, try to read through your homeowner's or apartment dweller's policy. Get your agent to explain it to you. Watch carefully for the exclusions. Typical exclusions include earthquake, flood, tornado, and acts of war. Frequently you can obtain a rider for extra money that will include these perils. Insurance companies do not like to pay for water damage.. Broken pipes, leaking fixtures, damaged roofs, wind driven rain, surface water, and what is considered a flood are frequently treated differently by your insurance policy. Make sure you understand what is covered and what is not. It has been my experience that when you have a loss due to water damage, whatever the cause of the damage is, that is the type of damage your agent will claim your policy does not cover.

If you live in a flood zone, even if there has not been a flood within the memory of any living person, you have to get special flood insurance.
There are limits on what you can claim for the contents of your house. Frequently you will need a rider to cover loss to the following items if they are of any significant value: works of art, collectibles, firearms, electronic equipment and camera equipment. If you have things of particular value in your home, speak to your insurance agent to make sure they are covered.

People are devastated when they suffer a major loss to their home. Immediately after the loss occurs, as soon as you can get back onto the property, you must start the recovery process. It is important to maximize your insurance claim. The best way to do that is to make sure you get as much as possible for the loss of the home's contents. Even if your furniture is late Salvation Army, it must be replaced. You are entitled to ask for the replacement cost with no depreciation. It is not a bad idea to inventory the contents of your house or to take pictures of each room and the major items of value. Obviously this record should not be kept in the house.

When there is a loss, the first thing you do after you make sure everyone is safe, is to take pictures. Take pictures of everything. Take pictures of the outside of your house showing damage to the siding. Show the damage to the door and window frames. Show damaged or water soaked wiring, porches, foundations and other structural items. Look for leaning, cracked or buckled items. If there was fire, show melted items such as glass or metal. Show smoke damage and water stains. If there is water damage, make sure you photograph an assortment of water stains. Look for stains that indicate the depth of the water.

Use something of standard size or a tape measure in the picture so that you can later prove the size or height of the stain. If something is dirty, place something clean beside it to show the contrast. If the temperature is cold, take a picture of the thermometer as frozen water destroys plaster. If it is hot, look for mold. Before you throw anything away, go room to room and take pictures of everything. Open draws, closets, and storage areas to take pictures of the contents. Do not forget the inside of your freezer, refrigerator and food storage areas. Do every room, do the basement, do the attic, do not omit anything. If you have a total loss due to a fire or storm damage, take pictures of the rubble showing parts of things and broken things.

Get a bound note book. Methodically go room to room and write down every item in the room. If the house is a total loss, then sit in a quite place and visualize your kitchen in your mind. Slowly turn around in your mind and write down everything your memory sees. Then methodically go from room to room in your mind doing the same thing. You will be surprised at how much you remember.

When your list is complete, go shopping. You must justify the value of everything you are claiming. Save the ads from the Sunday papers. Send for catalogues. Note the prices to replace the items you lost. Put the price beside the lost item in your note book. For example: "Six bath towels, @ $6.95 (Wal-Mart)."

You want to notify your insurance company as soon as possible. Other than to take immediate steps to preserve items or prevent further damage, do not dispose of things until your insurance company has had a chance to send out an adjuster. Make sure you ask the adjustor if it is okay to start disposing of damaged items or demolition of the remaining structure.

Most insurance will pay the cost of cleaning or repairing salvageable items, but you must either have receipts or estimates for the cleaning or repair. In the case of water damage, you want to get a clean up company and dehumidifiers into the house as soon as possible to stop mold.

Get a reputable builder to give you an estimate on your home repair. Keep in mind, the insurance company pays for what you have lost. You can rebuild differently if you want. Make sure the contractor will do the work for the price he estimates.
I am not a big fan of public adjusters. If you can document your loss yourself, you probably do not need a public adjuster. The more organized and detailed you are, the more likely your insurer will pay you the maximum benefit.

There are some things that cannot be replaced at any cost. Family photographs, Great Grand Ma's tea kettle, letters from long gone friends, and other such family treasures. Do not assume these things are lost. Try to get back into your house as soon as possible. Have a definite idea of what you are looking for and where it might be.

Photographs can be restored. Water does not particularly hurt photographs provided they are dried out properly. Books also are very survivable.

Things that are water-soaked need to be carefully dried so that items do not stick together or mildew. Even if they have started to mildew, they can be cleaned and saved. If you have soaked items that you want to save but you do not have time to immediately give them attention, especially paper products, freeze them. Freezing stops the damage until you can dry them out. Photographs, or anything on glossy paper that gets wet, cannot have anything touching the glossy surface because the glossy surface sticks to things as it dries out. Except watercolor works of art or other such items that might be water soluble, many items can be carefully rinsed in clean water by hand and set out to air dry with the ends lightly weighted to prevent curling. Items that might be water soluble should placed on a clean surface, a towel or drying rack, weighted to prevent curling, and allowed to slowly air dry.

Modern ammunition is quite durable. Cleaned and dried it should be fine although if it has been soaked for a long while; there may be reliability problems with the primers. Black powder, on the other hand, is safe when wet but becomes unstable when it starts to dry out. If you have wet black powder, keep it wet until you get professional advice on what to do with it. Do not leave it where it can cause damage if it spontaneously combusts.

Guns and mechanical devices should be rinsed in clean water (especially if they were exposed to sea water or chemicals), carefully dried and oiled. The old fashioned way of cleaning guns in soap and water always ended with a rinse of scalding water. Scalding water evaporates almost immediately leaving a warm, dry surface to oil. Wooden gun stocks should have all metal parts removed, blotted dry and then hung out to air dry so that the air can get at all parts of the stock and no pressure is placed on the wood that might bend it. Electronic things are generally destroyed by water. Hard drives and memory may be retrievable from computers even if the machine itself is destroyed.

Remember, the important thing to save is your family and yourself. Think ahead. Keep to your plan during emergencies. Concentrating on what you need to save, as opposed to what might be lost. No matter how bad you think things are, they could always be worse.