Recovery money almost always starts with your insurance company, not the government. Federal individual assistance only opens if a disaster receives a presidential declaration covering your area, and even then it covers basic needs rather than replacing everything you lost. Put your policy number, your agent's direct line, and your mortgage servicer or landlord's contact somewhere you can reach without your house — in your go bag and saved in your phone. Bookmark DisasterAssistance.gov, and keep two numbers handy: the FEMA helpline at 1-800-621-3362, and the California Department of Insurance consumer hotline at 800-927-4357 if a claim stalls. After any loss, keep every receipt for hotels, meals, and temporary housing — most policies reimburse those, and people throw them away.

The ground within five feet of your walls decides whether a wind-driven ember becomes a house fire. Pull bark mulch, dead leaves, and firewood away from siding. Clear the gutters and the space under decks and stairs. If you plant anything in that strip, keep it low, green, and well watered.

Not the garage, not a closet. Canyon evacuations can come with minutes of notice, and people lose time going back for things. Medications, phone charger, a copy of your ID and insurance card, sturdy shoes, cash, a leash or carrier. Check it when you change your clocks.

Ten minutes with your phone is the single best thing you can do for your insurance claim after a fire, quake, or flood. Open the cabinets. Get the serial numbers on big appliances. Back it up somewhere that isn't in the house.

Most earthquake injuries in a home come from things falling, and most post-quake water damage comes from a heater tipping and tearing its lines. Strapping kits are about twenty dollars at any hardware store. Anchor bookcases, dressers, and the TV while you're at it.

Local phone lines jam before long-distance does, and a text will often go through when a call won't. Choose one person outside Southern California, make sure every family member has the number saved, and agree that everyone checks in with that person rather than trying to reach each other.

Know where both valves are and which way they turn before you need them in the dark. Zip-tie a shutoff wrench to the gas meter. Only shut the gas off if you smell or hear a leak, and don't turn it back on yourself — that has to be the utility.