Most of us carry almost no cash. Our spending is digital — cards, phones, payment apps. It works brilliantly until the power grid goes down, cell towers saturate, or your bank’s network becomes unreachable. In those circumstances, cash is not a backup option. It is the only option.
Financial preparedness gets surprisingly little attention in emergency planning conversations. We talk about water, food, first aid. Financial resilience — the ability to function economically in the hours and days after a disaster — is equally important and often completely ignored.
How Much Cash to Keep on Hand
The commonly cited guideline is enough cash to cover three to seven days of expenses: food, fuel, lodging, and incidentals. What that number looks like depends on your household size and your region, but a general starting point for a Pacific Northwest family is $300–$500 in mixed denominations.
Denomination matters. After a disaster, vendors often can’t make change — either because they’re overwhelmed or because their register systems are offline and they’re doing mental math on paper. Small bills are genuinely more useful: prioritize $5s, $10s, and $20s over $50s and $100s.
Keep the cash in a secure, consistent location at home — not in your wallet, where it will gradually get spent. Many households keep emergency cash in a small envelope or ziploc in their go-bag or a dedicated fireproof box. The key is that it’s accessible quickly and not accidentally raided.
Financial Documents to Protect
Your financial life is documented — insurance policies, bank account information, investment accounts, mortgage documents. In a disaster, you may need to access these quickly, and the digital versions may not be available. Keep physical copies of the following in a waterproof container or fireproof safe:
- Insurance policies — homeowner’s or renter’s, auto, health, life; include your policy numbers and the claims phone number for each
- Bank account information — account numbers (not full details, but enough to identify accounts) and bank contact numbers
- Mortgage or lease documents — proof of ownership or tenancy is relevant in disaster recovery situations
- Tax returns (last 2 years) — required for many disaster assistance applications
- Investment and retirement account statements — one recent statement per account
- A list of recurring payments — what’s set to autopay, from which accounts, so you can monitor for disruption
Also keep copies of personal identification: photo IDs for all household members, Social Security cards, passports, birth certificates. These are needed for disaster assistance programs, insurance claims, and replacement of lost documentation.
Know Your Insurance Before You Need It
Disaster is not the time to learn what your homeowner’s policy actually covers. Read your policy now — specifically:
- Is earthquake damage covered? (Usually not in a standard policy — earthquake coverage is typically a separate rider or separate policy.)
- Is flood damage covered? (Standard policies almost universally exclude flood; flood coverage requires a separate NFIP or private policy.)
- What is your deductible for catastrophic damage?
- Does your policy cover additional living expenses if you can’t live in your home?
Oregon and Washington both sit on the Cascadia Subduction Zone. Earthquake insurance is worth evaluating seriously. The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services has published resources on earthquake coverage options for state residents — a useful starting point if you haven’t reviewed this recently.
After the Disaster: Accessing Help Quickly
Federal disaster assistance programs (FEMA Individual Assistance, SBA disaster loans) require documentation to access. Having your financial records preserved and accessible dramatically accelerates your recovery. Households that cannot document losses or prove occupancy often face significant delays in receiving assistance.
A simple pre-disaster step: do a video walkthrough of your home and its contents. Record the make, model, and condition of major appliances, electronics, and furniture. Store this video in cloud backup or email it to yourself. It is the most useful documentation you can provide when filing a homeowner’s claim after a disaster.
A Short Pre-Disaster Financial Checklist
- $300–$500 cash in small bills in your go-bag or fireproof safe
- Waterproof copies of all key financial and identity documents
- Video or photo inventory of your home and its contents
- Your insurance policy read and understood — gaps identified and addressed
- Bank, insurance, and financial institution emergency contact numbers accessible offline
The financial piece of emergency preparedness doesn’t require a significant investment — most of it is just organization and information gathering you should have done anyway. An afternoon spent on this now saves enormous stress in a situation where you already have enough to manage.
Have questions about insurance coverage specific to Cascadia hazards, or about what documentation matters most for disaster assistance? Drop them below — we’ll address them in a follow-up.