The IRS urges all taxpayers to plan for disaster events by keeping key documents in a safe place. Items such as bank statements, tax returns and insurance policies should be stored in a secure, waterproof container with an extra set of keys. They also suggest scanning original paper documents onto electronic medium.
Valuables and the contents of a home should be photographed for use in claiming insurance losses in the event of a disaster. Photos should be stored with backup files outside of the area that may be impacted by a disaster.
The IRS has disaster-loss workbooks that can be used for help gathering and documenting lists of personal belongings and business equipment. Refer to the following IRS Publications: