When you’re putting together basic home emergency supplies, such as storing water and food, you also need to decide what you want to do about money. Emergency preparedness means having the right items to survive different kinds of disasters, and in most cases you will need a supply of cash that does not need to be accessed electronically. You will also need to anticipate problems with electronic data even after the situation has been resolved and take steps to create a backup of important information.

The main thing you need to do to ensure that your emergency preparedness is complete is to make sure you have access to cash. This has to be actual dollar bills and coins, as ATMs may not be working due to possible power failures. You should hide this money somewhere safe so that you can easily access it if something terrible should happen. It is a good idea to always have some funds in your bank account as well, since credit cards may not be accepted but direct debit could still work.

After the situation has been resolved, then the next step is fixing the problems and confusion that occurred. Your emergency preparation should have involved making backup copies of all relevant data related to your finances. On an external drive, you should regularly backup any recent transactions made online, and your credit card information. The idea here is that even if there is a massive power surge that fries your computer, followed by a power failure, once things have been restored to normal you should be able to hook your external drive to an unaffected computer and recover all your data.

Another important step to being prepared for an emergency is having financial records and important contact numbers and names of people in a safe place. In fact, this information should ideally be stored in more than one place, in the event that the first location is compromised. Safe locations could involve an external hard drive, a safety deposit box, a home safe, or some other hidden location. Once the situation has been resolved, these records can be accessed and used to make a quick transition back to normal, and they can often suffice as evidence in case the original data has been lost or damaged.

To be successful with your emergency preparedness, you need to anticipate a great deal. It is hard to predict exactly what will happen in a major crisis, but basic steps you take should involve setting aside some cash and making a backup of your financial information. So much can be lost in such a short period of time that it is well worth it to invest a bit of effort in making sure that should the worst occur, you will be more likely to walk away from it unscathed.

Beth Kaminski is the co-author of Curing Your Anxiety And Panic Attacks which detailed end panic attacks as well as tips on the various anxiety disorder medication available at anxietydisordercure.com.