Safeguarding Photos: How to Protect Your Family Photos From Natural Disasters by Laura Greenwald

Nothing is more heartbreaking than watching a victim of the latest disaster digging through the timbers of her home looking for the things she loves most: favorite photos. The worst part is this type of loss is so easy to prevent! Why are we so good at backing up our smartphone pictures – including the one of yesterday's lunch – five different ways? But the photos we love most are hanging on the wall unprotected!

• Before hurricane, tornado, wildfire or volcano season catches you unprepared, grab your photos off the walls and scan them at home or at your local copy shop.

• Back up the scans to several different locations in and out of your home, including your PC, portable hard drive, safe deposit box and the cloud. That way if anything ever happens, all you have to do is reprint your favorites and hang them up on your new wall.

Want more tips to keep your family safe? We're on a mission to donate 200,000 free downloadable copies of our books, "Ready" and "Connected," to families across the U.S. Pick up your copies today, then help us spread the word on social media.