The fire extinguishers can become clogged or require excessive force to discharge and can fail to activate during a fire emergency. In addition, the nozzle can detach with enough force to pose an impact hazard.

Before any disaster, you should inspect your home and eliminate any potential hazards. In an emergency, ordinary items in your home can cause injury and damage. Anything that can move, fall, break or cause a fire is a potential hazard.

One of the first things to do are finding out what disasters could strike where you live. The following steps can help you reduce the physical damage to your property if you were to be hit with a disaster. These steps can reduce your insurance costs, too.

This September, National Preparedness Month (NPM) will focus on planning, with an overarching theme “Disasters Don’t Plan Ahead. You Can.”