If you had 10 minutes to evacuate your home during a natural disaster, what would you take with you? Where would you get cash if ATM and credit card networks were down? Would your insurance be adequate to rebuild your home?

Obviously, the safety of you and your family is your first concern -- but ensuring your financial security is second. As a certified financial planner based in disaster-prone southern California, here’s what I tell my clients...

Keep enough cash in the house for a weekend away. It can take that long after a disaster for merchants to be able to accept credit or bank cards.

Also keep $300 in one-dollar bills on hand. Reason: Stores may not be able to make change. After the last earthquake in this area, some people had to hand over $20 bills to pay for a carton of milk or a bottle of water.

Keep important items in a secure, fire-safe box near the front door -- perhaps in a coat closet. (Keep original documents in a safe-deposit box or a fireproof safe.) The box should be lightweight so that you can carry it to your vehicle in an emergency. It should contain...

Legal papers. Copies of titles to your home and vehicles, marriage and birth certificates, passports, insurance policies, military and medical records, Social Security cards, driver’s license numbers, wills and powers of attorney.

Extra supplies of medications if your doctor will prescribe them. Rotate them monthly so that the newest medication always is available. Also keep lists of medications, doctors’ phone numbers, etc. People with extreme allergies should include Epi-Pen injectors.

Financial records. Copies of credit card and employee benefit statements, household budget, tax returns for the last three years, contact and account numbers for financial accounts.

Key to your safe-deposit box, if you have a box.

Extra checks.

Inventory of household possessions, including professional appraisals for valuables, such as jewelry and antiques, and receipts for the cost of major home improvements, such as kitchen remodeling or a new deck.

Helpful: Use a digital camera or camcorder to record your home’s contents for insurance purposes. Go room by room, giving an audio or written description of the approximate cost, condition and age of each piece of furniture, appliance and decorative element -- even towels and clothing. Send a copy on DVD or CD to your insurance agent, as well as copies of receipts for big-ticket items, to expedite future claims.

While many documents may also be stored in a bank safe-deposit box, keep in mind that your local bank could be closed for several days or weeks after a disaster.

Backup plan: Scan documents into a single electronic file, and save it on your computer hard drive. Regularly back up the file to a removable flash storage device that you can take with you in the event of a disaster. These portable devices are the size of a cigarette lighter and plug into your computer’s USB port. They are available for about $50 in electronics or office-supply stores.

You can buy a scanner for as little as $69, or have your documents scanned at an office-supply/photocopying store.

Maintain an emergency fund. Keep three months’ to a year’s worth of basic living expenses -- rent/mortgage, food, insurance, etc. -- in safe, liquid investments, such as short-term CDs and short-term municipal bonds. This will protect you from a disaster as well as a loss of income -- if your place of work is damaged, you may be without a paycheck for some time.

Also: Recent laws have forced all financial institutions to implement disaster-continuity plans. Obtain copies of the plans from your bank and brokerage house to learn how to access your money after a disaster.

If you live in a disaster-prone region, look into retrofitting your home with the help of government loans. Consult a home inspector about what steps to take. Mortgage giant Fannie Mae and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offer 10-year predisaster-mitigation loans from $1,000 to $20,000 for projects such as reinforcing roofs, installing flame-retardant shingles and elevating a building.

Such upgrades can substantially reduce insurance premiums. Mitigation loans have no minimum income requirements, closing costs, annual fees or prepayment penalties. You don’t have to risk your house as collateral, as you do with a home-equity loan.

Terms: 9% to 12% fixed rate for the life of the loan. For more details, contact FEMA at 202-566-1600 or www.fema.gov (search for “Project Impact Prevention Loan”).

Make sure your homeowner’s insurance includes appropriate disaster coverage. Depending on where you live, you might need flood insurance through the government’s National Flood Insurance Program (annual premiums of $300 and up) and riders for hurricanes and/or earthquakes ($2,500 a year and up for a $200,000 home with a $10,000 deductible). Such riders are expensive, but losing everything because you’re not covered is more expensive.

Smart: Increase your deductible to $3,500. Premiums drop at that level, making riders more affordable. For more information, contact FEMA.

Make sure you have “replacement value” coverage that pays you the amount necessary to replace articles with ones of similar quality at current prices. Check that you will be reimbursed for living expenses if your home is damaged and uninhabitable. Cost: Less than $100 in annual premiums for $10,000 of coverage.

If you have a home office, you will need a commercial policy to cover damage to business-related equipment. (Homeowner's policies do not cover home-based businesses.) Many homeowner's policies limit replacement of computer equipment to $2,500. You can double this coverage for $20 to $30 per year.

Helpful resources: Download Disaster Preparedness Guide free from the American Red Cross, www.redcross.org/financialplanning. FEMA also offers Are You Ready? -- a free guide to disaster preparation.