Skill · Proof
Papers you can grab
A folder you can carry beats a filing cabinet you cannot reach. Copies are enough to start a claim.
Federal steps in this chapter do not change by state. Local orders for Arizona come from Arizona Department of Emergency Management.
5 min read · Updated October 2026
What goes in the folder
Ready.gov’s financial and kit guidance both point at documents: identification, insurance policies, and account records, stored in a waterproof way you can carry. Build one folder, or one encrypted backup plus a paper folder. Review it every year.
- Driver licenses, passports, birth certificates, Social Security cards: copies in the bag, originals secured.
- Insurance declarations for home, renters, auto, health, and flood if you have it.
- Lease or deed, vehicle titles, a recent photo of each room.
- Medical list, vaccination record if you want it handy, pet vaccination and a photo of the pet.
- A short list of bank, utility, and employer contacts. Not every password.
- Cash envelope, separate, so the folder is not the only secret.
- A USB drive goes stale and can fail. Paper still opens with no power. Use both if you like redundancy.
How to
Ready.gov’s financial and kit guidance both point at documents: identification, insurance policies, and account records, stored in a waterproof way you can carry. Build one folder, or one encrypted backup plus a paper folder.
Step 1. Copy the IDs
Copies in the bag, originals secured
Step 2. Add insurance
Home, renters, auto, health, flood if you have it
Step 3. Photograph rooms
And a photo of the pet
Step 4. List contacts
Banks, utilities, employer. Not every password
Step 5. Review the folder
Review it every year
A USB drive goes stale and can fail. Paper still opens with no power.
Checklist
Checks stay in this browser.
Sources
Public pages this chapter leans on. They win if anything here is out of date.
- Ready.gov — Financial preparedness
Documents and insurance
- Ready.gov — Build a kit
Important family documents in the kit
- USA.gov — Disasters and emergencies
Replacing documents and finding aid