When you prepare for a hurricane, you secure your home, gather supplies, review your evacuation plan, prepare an emergency kit, and alert your friends and family. However, one thing that’s often overlooked is preparing for the financial impact of a hurricane. Making financial preparations now will allow you to focus more on your family’s safety when a storm hits.

Securely Save Physical and Digital Copies of Important Documents:

Obtain physical copies of your financial, legal, and insurance documents and save PDF versions to an accessible digital cloud of the following items:

• Insurance Policies
• Birth and Marriage Certificates
• Photos of Valuables and Home
• Passports and Social Security Cards
• Emergency Contact Lists
• Account Usernames and Passwords
• Deeds and Titles

Keep physical forms of these documents in an easily accessible packet that also contains your checkbook and emergency credit cards. This is also a good place to keep your safety deposit box key if it's not able to stay in a more secure location, like a weather resistant safe.

Ensure You Have Access to Your Funds

Keep in mind, when disasters strike, you may not be able to get to an ATM machine or your bank may be closed. In case of widespread power outages, ATM machines and banks might not have power to be operational. Prepare ahead of a storm to ensure you have access to your funds and cash should you need it. Don't forget to:

• Enable Direct Deposit if you haven't done so already. This will ensure funds are still deliverable directly to your account in case banks are temporarily closed.
• Enroll in Paperless statements to stay organized without worrying about potential mail service issues.
• Download the Seacoast Mobile App so you can make mobile deposits, use your mobile wallet, pay bills, and more without having to go out in the bad weather. Don't forget to set up account alerts so you can keep track on your accounts.
• Secure an Emergency Home Equity Line of Credit to cover damage expenses or insurance deductibles.
• Link your savings account to your debit card to provide a backup source of cash at the ATM.
• Have cash on hand in case of a widespread power outage that leaves you unable to pay with a debit/credit card.

By preparing for your financial needs before the storm arrives, you’ll be in a much better position to weather the challenges after it hits.