Evacuation: How to Prepare a Storage Unit

Although we all hope never to face such extenuating circumstances, it’s important to acknowledge that sometimes evacuations are necessary for safety. You should have a contingency plan to get yourself, your family, and important documents/belongings from your home in a safe manner–especially if you live in a high risk area. However, another consideration is what to do with your self-storage items in an evacuation.

How to Prep Self Storage for Evacuation

Keep Important Documents Readily Available

Organize your storage unit so that anything you might need to take with you is easily accessible. If you are in an area that is known for frequent evacuations, you may want to consider keeping these documents in an emergency kit in your home or storage unit so you always know where they areand how to access them.

Avoid Storing Hazardous Materials in Your Unit

Any flammable materials may pose a threat in the event of an evacuation. Particularly if you live in an area with fire risk or extreme heat, these items increase the risk for damage to your property.

Ensure Your Storage Unit is Secured

Make sure your lock is in good condition and stays that way. This will keep your items safe from theft while you are evacuated and make your lock less likely to break in inclement weather.

Self Storage as an Evacuation Tool

Self-storage can also be used as a repository for your emergency supplies in the event of an evacuation. You should keep a first aid kit at home so you have emergency supplies readily available if you need them. However, you can keep an emergency kit in storage to grab on your way out in the event of an evacuation. If you choose to store some emergency supplies in a storage unit, make sure it’s a 24 hour access unit that you can get into when the facility may be empty of employees. Like your important documents, also make sure these supplies are easily accessible in your unit.