Self Storage & Disasters

Disasters can happen at any time. The last thing you want to be doing in an unexpected disaster is trying to get to your storage facility and hoping it's open in order to pick up vital items or protect your things. While there’s no sense in losing sleep over disasters that may or may not happen, it always pays to be prepared. At Los Rios Storage in Kamloops, we care about your belongings and have various sizes of storage lockers available to suit your needs in our clean, fully secure, and highly accessible facility.

Here are a couple of emergency preparedness tips to consider in relation to self-storage:

 • Pack with Safety in Mind: While the storage lockers at Los Rios are constructed with safety in mind, packing your items correctly will go a long way to keeping them safe.
    ◦ Choose packing material that provides cushion without damage. Newspaper is convenient and provides good cushioning, but can leave newsprint behind on some items. Other options are bubble wrap, packing peanuts, and butcher paper.
    ◦ Label, label, label. If you need to get to something in a hurry, clear, easily-to-see labelling will save you time and trouble.
    ◦ Organize your belongings. It’s tempting to toss everything in a storage unit and walk away, but organizing your things carefully and logically will be a huge benefit in the event of a disaster or any circumstance where you need to access your belongings quickly. Put critical items, such as birth certificates or other important paperwork, in watertight storage containers. Label them carefully and make sure they are stored in an easy-to-access place in the unit. Making a rough map of your unit highlighting what is where would be helpful. It’s easy to think you’ll remember when the time comes, but under stress the more help you can give yourself, the better.
    ◦ Protect furniture. In the event of flooding, it’s a good idea to place any furniture in your unit on a pallet to keep it off the ground.

 • Store a 72-hour Kit in Your Home: Disasters are unpredictable and can take many forms. If your home ends up being the safest place to stay during an unexpected incident and travel isn’t possible, having enough supplies to carry your family through at least 72-hours is vital. Storage units are handy and secure, but if you can’t get there, you need to be prepared in your home. While we likely have most of these items in our homes, it’s handy to store extras in a kit so you can easily access what you need in times of duress.
    ◦ Water and non-perishable food, such as protein bars, canned tuna or beans, trail mix. Check items annually to inspect/replace items as necessary.
    ◦ Fuel and light. Candles, flares, batteries, waterproof matches, flashlights.
    ◦ Equipment. Dishes, battery-operated radio, cutlery, duct tape, etc.
    ◦ First aid supplies, including a three-day supply of any vital prescription medication required.
    ◦ Toilet paper and diapers if necessary.
    ◦ Bedding, including enough warm blankets to go around.
    ◦ Changes of clothing.
    ◦ Plastic sheet/tarp.

Let’s hope disaster avoids us here in Kamloops, but by following a few tips to help us be prepared, we’ll be ready just in case. At Los Rios, all our indoor mini storage lockers are easily accessible and have roll-up garage-style doors, making moving your stuff in and out simple and convenient. Our storage facility is fire department-approved, giving you a safe and secure location to store your priceless belongings. We also have fire-rated walls, which protect each individual unit and comply with both the BC Building Code and insurance companies. If you have questions about our storage options and/or our facility’s disaster protocols, contact us.