by Sawsan Elzayyat

Created on: October 20, 2008   Last Updated: April 04, 2011

One way of preparing your home for emergencies and natural disasters is known as 'emergency board up.' Board up is the temporary sealing of potentially dangerous openings in building exteriors. It protects your home and its contents against the ravages of nature and against criminal acts such as burglary and vandalism. If you live in a hurricane or tornado zone, you may be alerted of impeding natural disasters in advance, and that is when you need 'preparatory' emergency board up.

Emergency board up is also one of the first steps in damage restoration of homes and buildings in the wake of all kinds of natural or manmade disasters and accidents, including floods, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, automobile accidents, explosions, break-ins and vandalism.

The immediacy associated with emergency board up services may be what distinguishes this service from other, more permanent, damage restoration services. Once property owners are reassured about the safety of family members, office employees or the occupants of other buildings, their first concern is (or should be) to ensure the security and safety of the damaged property. In many cases, this requires immediate emergency board up services.

Whether it is in preparation for an emergency or as a result of one, sealing un-wanted openings in a property is imperative. In many states, board up is also a legal requirement since it helps to make unsafe, condemned properties inaccessible. In the case of preparatory emergency board up (hurricane alerts etc), do not assume that you know all the openings that need to be tightly sealed and boarded. A good professional contractor will go over your home and inform you of what needs to be done.

Below are a few general safety pointers that can help you and your family to deal better with the kinds of situations that may eventually require emergency board up:

In the event of an emergency, all adult household members should be able to shut off utilities (water, gas and electricity).

All households should have an emergency survival kit, containing items like drinking water, canned foods, batteries, flashlights, portable radios and first aid supplies, and everyone should be aware of its location in the home.

Prepare an evacuation route in advance and adapt it to specific emergencies, and try to keep your gas tank full at all times.

Never re-enter a damaged building until the property is officially declared to be safe.

Always keep an inventory of your property and the

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