Back-to-back hurricanes Helene and Milton barreled their way through Florida, with the former absolutely devastating North Carolina. Extreme weather events like these often cause significant financial challenges to people living in the affected area. With that in mind, Consolidated Credit has established a toll-free disaster relief hotline to help people struggling with bills and high credit card balances in the aftermath.
Certified credit counselors and HUD-certified housing counselors are on standby now at 844-331-7534. They can answer your questions and help you find the best way to recover without facing a second disaster with debt. The disaster relief hotline will remain open to help hurricane survivors deal with the ongoing financial challenges that follow this unprecedented storm season.
“Natural disasters are one of those unexpected life events that can derail even the best-laid financial plans,” says Gary Herman, President of Consolidated Credit. “Particularly with storms like these, people may be facing property damage and increased credit card debt from emergency spending. We want to make sure people have access to the resources they need to recover. We also want to help those facing challenges with credit card debt to regain stability as quickly as possible.”
Climate Change and Your Wallet
Consolidated Credit explains how to best plan your budget for when catastrophic natural disasters hit.
Learn the best tech tools to help budget and where to find financial assistance following a weather emergency.
Unfortunately, not a week goes by when the news isn’t reporting a natural disaster somewhere around the world and in this country natural disasters strike like clockwork every year.
We’re not trying to depress you but actually raise your spirits preparing for natural disasters isn’t hard and it’s not expensive either. Once you do it you’ll have peace of mind because you’re prepared for anything.
When you have a disaster plan you worry less and enjoy life a little more. We hate to say this but almost everyone in this country can be affected by a natural disaster.
Not one part of the United States is immune. Wherever you are right now listening to me, you’re probably vulnerable to some kind of natural disaster. From flooding to hurricanes to tornadoes to blizzards to wildfires.
Thankfully, it’s not hard to convince people to care about natural disasters. When was the last time 70% of people in this country agreed on anything? Well, in a poll by the insurance company All State, 7 and 10 Americans, were worried about natural disasters.
Then again 3 in 4 of us aren’t doing anything about it. According to that same survey only 1 in 4 Americans have a disaster plan, which is sad because they’re not hard to make. It just takes a little bit of time, and even less money.
Let’s start by talking about disaster preparations that cost nothing.
There are three key things you can do right now. Gather all your key documents. Organize everything you’ll need to get compensated for any destruction and design evacuation routes when you’ll use them.
Let’s take a quick look at each. First gather up all the paperwork you’ll need in case the worst happens. Most importantly that means insurance policies. Check your policies to make sure you’re properly covered. If not take time to talk to your insurance agent.
If so, write down the name, address, and claims reporting telephone number of your insurance company. And remember this might be different from your agent’s contact information. Next whip out your phone and take pictures of everything of value in your house. Don’t forget to shoot not only that nice couch but also all your jewelry and other collectibles.
If you have documents attesting to their value gather those too even take photos of those documents. Store them on the cloud for free using Google drive or similar options. Of course, we’re not a paperless society just yet. So you definitely need to safely store any hard copies of important documents. And it needs to be portable, too.
If you must evacuate you want to grab everything you’ll need and not worry you’ve left something behind. That’s why the worst time to gather up your documentation is right before you need to head out.
Now some people buy a portable and waterproof metal lock box for hundreds of dollars. You can see them advertised on Amazon and at stores like Walmart and Target, but you don’t need to buy one of these pricey options.
We’ve known many people who keep these documents safely stored in cheap Tupperware. It’s waterproof and lightweight and best of all cheap. Whatever works for you as long as it’s protected and at your fingertips.
When many people hear the word evacuation, they think it only means get out now. They don’t often consider where am I going? So a solid evacuation plan actually answers two important questions that can save you money and even save your life.
First what’s the safest and quickest route away from the natural disaster. If it’s a hurricane you have more time to plan than if it’s a tornado. But either way you want to map it out now in case of the former. A hurricane gives you a lot of notice, but you often have to get very far away to get out of the storm’s path.
A tornado can give you only minutes and you need to think about shelter close by. Speaking of location, where is the safest and cheapest place to land that could be the home of a nearby friend or far away relative? Or it could be a government or private shelter, but you want to figure that out now. Otherwise you’ll get the first part right and get out of danger but you won’t have a destination to wait out the worst of it.
That can be costly, uncomfortable, and maybe even deadly. Technology doesn’t just make it easier to order stuff online and make our TV sets bigger and brighter. Technology has made it safer to survive natural disasters and it’s not expensive.
Both great strides and innovations have been made in products that can help you out during a natural disaster and they’re not expensive either. For instance, you can buy a thermal emergency blanket for around $15, a good solar charger for your smartphone is around $20. Same for a personal water filter. Best of all these items last a long time.
So you don’t have to buy them again. Even the emergency food while it’s not exactly gourmet fair it’s relatively cheap and lasts for up to a decade each kind of natural disaster requires different supplies.
Although some are universal, here’s the problem most disaster supplies are purchased at exactly the wrong time during hurricane season. For example, most bottled water is sold 48 hours before the storm is scheduled to hit. Leading not only to shortages but price gouging. So what’s the solution?
The best advice sounds weird. Shopping for disaster supplies is just like shopping for holiday gifts. Why? Because it’s best to do it offseason. You’ll save more. Look for deals year round. Not just on the eve of tornado season. Shop for blizzard supplies in the summer shop for hurricane supplies in the winter. Not only will you save money.
Shopping offseason if a natural disaster is approaching, or strikes, you’ll have one less thing to worry about. You won’t forget something important because you’re in a panic and you’ll have that peace of mind. We mentioned earlier while we’re talking about beginning your research.
Let’s focus on one key fact about each kind of natural disaster that often gets overlooked. For instance, if you’ve gone through a hurricane before and even if you’ve prepared for it very well. You might not know this – flooding kills more people and costs more in property damage than the high winds do it’s the storm surge from the ocean.
That’s more deadly than the force winds in some ways. Calling wildfires a natural disaster isn’t accurate since almost all of them are caused by human beings either acting clumsily or maliciously. Thus more wildfires start in areas where camping is allowed than in remote wilderness areas.
Check to see where camping is allowed near you, because that’s something you need to keep your eye on. Although tornado season is traditionally March through May. In the South they peak in the summer up north and they can happen in any state in the country.
Only Alaska is usually spared. Although it last had one documented in 2005. So unless you live in Alaska, don’t ever say it can’t happen here. Earthquakes are the most common natural occurrence on this list. Except no one feels most of them.
Of the half a million that happen each year human beings feel only a 100,000 of them – and only 100 cause any damage to property or claim lives. But earthquakes are among the most damaging natural disasters in this country, they cause more than $4 billion a year in damage.
According to FEMA, flooding is the one natural disaster that follows many other natural disasters. As we mentioned, hurricanes can cause flooding but so can tornadoes and earthquakes so-called “no-name storms” cause flooding, too.
Did you know 90% of all U.S. natural disasters declared by the president involve some sort of flooding? It’s also the one natural disaster that can happen anywhere – even Alaska. No matter what natural disaster hits you, the recovery process is almost always the same yet more injuries costs and even deaths result from people simply not following this basic advice.
First don’t venture outside until you get the “all clear” from officials this isn’t the time to sight see. The damage, down power lines, and other dangers lurk everywhere. Second spend your time close to home assessing your family’s needs and documenting any property damage. Third use your disaster supplies for eating drinking, cleaning, and washing.
Don’t try venturing out to buy anything. That’s all basic stuff but what about financially recovering from a natural disaster?
If you suffer any damage from a natural disaster and you and your family are safe, the next step is to ensure your finances are safe now.
Let’s double back and take advantage of all the preparation you did earlier. Remember when we talked about putting all your valuable documents in one safe place? Well now it’s time to consult them.
Break out those insurance policies. Call the agents representing you right away. Don’t expect them to get right back to you since they’re slammed with other claims. The sooner you call the sooner you’ll hear back. Also contact your lenders and ask for grace periods and extensions. That’s everything from your mortgage to your credit cards.
They have protocols for this so it can be quite easy to do if your home is damaged and you can’t stay there. Don’t forget to tell your utilities company they can suspend your service and save you some money.
And now we come to the most important slide of this presentation: After a natural disaster you might feel like your world has been turned upside down –– and you’re not alone. You might not have cell phone service, but the fact is you’re not alone. You have help available to you and much of it is free. Some of it actually gives you money.
Let’s review that quickly. Once you can get back online, your first step is to visit consumerfinance.gov/recover. That website offers step-by-step instructions for recovering from every kind of natural disaster. If you’re in a presidentially declared disaster area, go to disasterassistance.gov to learn how to claim some aid.
Go to the homepage of your state’s website to see if you qualify for state aid. Even if you’re not in an official disaster area. You can also call the Red Cross at 8 00 Red Cross to see about financial aid shelter, free meals, free clothing, and even some personal hygiene supplies.
Now let’s talk briefly about who not to call after a natural disaster. Scammers descend upon the area. Some are shady contractors who offer to fix up your property for cheap but only if you pay in cash up front.
Right away never pay upfront pay as the work gets done always get estimates for
more than one cash contractor and make sure they’re licensed and bonded. You might also get phone calls from official sounding people demanding you give them your Social Security number and other personal details.
Ask for their number so you can call them back and if they’re reluctant hang up. In fact, if you’re not sure what to do the best advice is to do nothing. As we just said plenty of free help is out there. So you don’t need to fall for any scams to get the assistance you need.
Natural disasters are only fun in the movies. In real life they’re scary and with a little planning and just a little money you can weather the storm.
Today was just an overview. Just a starting point, but as you can see it’s not as daunting as you might think.
A debt management plan can offer relief from credit card debt
In addition to the free hotline, households in the affected can take advantage of discounted rates on Consolidated Credit’s debt management program.
“Whether you had existing credit card debt before the storm that’s now creating stress on your budget or you’ve incurred new debt in your efforts to recover from the storm, we can help you develop a plan to pay it off,” Herman explains. “Our team will work with your creditors to reduce or eliminate interest charges that are currently being applied to your balances. This can provide relief by reducing your total payments by up to 30 to 50%.”
Call 844-331-7534 for free guidance
On October 13, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that it had “the busiest day in the agency’s history for registrations.” Over 250,000 applications for assistance were received.
Under this emergency declaration, two types of assistance are available: Public Assistance and Individual Assistance.
Public Assistance is available to address community repairs. Individual Assistance (IA) provides help to individuals and households affected by a declared disaster.
DisasterAssistance.gov is a helpful tool for checking whether your county has been declared for Individual Assistance. Simply search by your zip code or city to see if your area has been declared for IA. If so, you can Apply Online directly through that website.
“We’ve extended our disaster relief program to all Florida and North Carolina residents, regardless of which county they reside in,” Herman says. “We want to ensure that every hurricane survivor has access to the help they need.”
Make sure you’re prepared for the next storm
Major weather events can do significant damage to your finances. Don’t wait for a storm to hit. This free guide can help you prepare for extreme weather to avoid a financial disaster.
Disaster Planning Guide
Financial PlanningNatural disasters can derail even the best laid financial plans. Whether you live in a hurricane, tornado or flood zone, or an area prone to wildfires or winter storms, it’s crucial that you get prepared to keep yourself, your family, and your finances protected during the storm. This guide teaches you how to prepare, so you can minimize financial losses.
Open Booklet Download Booklet