Kansas experiences its share of severe weather events–drought, heat waves, high winds, thunderstorms, flooding, tornadoes, wildfires and more. K-State family resource management specialist Elizabeth Kiss says preparing for severe weather events includes more than packing a “grab-and-go” kit and knowing where to meet your family.

“Another part of preparedness is we want to be prepared ahead of time, but then if we need to recover, if something happens and we need to make a claim against our insurance or we need to hire contractors, then we review how to avoid scams in those instances. Get more than one estimate, follow the instructions from your insurance company. Always document everything. Take pictures,” said Kiss.

Kiss advises taking pictures before cleanup and then checking with your insurance company to understand what immediate cleanup you can do versus what may need to wait until they assess the damage.