Getting Ready for Summer

A lot of things happened today but nothing worth recording as its just the usual cycle of watering, weeding etc.

Preparedness

With Summer on the way (yes it is only the second week of Spring) and conditions dry and hot the mind turns to getting ready.

Part of living in the country is the usual annual threat of fire. With that comes The Plan. After much discussion and review last year our plan is to evacuate. We looked at the possibility of staying and defending but it didn't look at all as if it would be successful without a major expenditure.

The first part of the plan was to decide which conditions would trigger an evacuation and to where. And of course the backup (survival) plan if we failed to leave early.

After the decision to leave was made we quickly adjusted mentally to losing all our possessions

Who will do what at the time of leaving is written in large letters on a checklist  to make sure that there is no confusion and we both complete our necessary tasks.

The escape route i.e. getting out of the property needed some work and will need to be reviewed again and some clean up work performed. Once off the property the escape route depends on the direction and proximity of the fire. We documented several scenarios.

Then we looked at what we could take with us. A backpack each with some essentials for a few days or week at an evacuation centre. A bag containing financial papers and computer backups. Another bag with photographs. And the cats and dogs.

Rather than get caught taking too much we would look at a treasured possession and say to ourselves "Can I acquire that thing again somewhere?"

All the insurance is up to date and the decision to rebuild or move to be made later. As well as our own costing's we worked with the insurance company to ensure we were adequately covered. Everything has been photographed. Each room and building from different angles, each wall and contents of cupboards. Digital cameras are so handy to build a collection of hundreds of photographs.

A post catastrophe plan is also in place i.e. where to live both short and medium term.

The clean up work around the house and sheds became an ongoing all year program with the only task now left was the felling of some regrowth trees near the house - next on the list after Spring plantings.

One of the strange observations we've made in our lives is that whenever we have prepared thoroughly for a particular circumstance we have never needed to implement that plan.