In Extreme-Weather Season, Residents Should Document Their Possessions

"As the extreme weather season begins, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires and other natural disasters threaten to bring myriad civil legal problems for East Tennessee residents from accessing critical disaster assistance to securing temporary housing to handling insurance claims.

Legal Aid of East Tennessee (LAET) is available to provide advice and assistance, but residents should act now to ensure that they have accessible documents and photographs of themselves and everything in their home before a natural disaster arrives.

A few simple actions can help to avoid legal problems later.

Preparation for disasters is key.

First, residents should take photographs of everything, including their home, belongings, pets and important documents. This will help with insurance and FEMA claims. Then, residents should upload the photographs to a secure location, email the photographs to themselves, and place the camera in a watertight container..."

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