⚖️Florida Statute 655.960 governs electronic records for financial institutions, but for personal records there is no statute — that's exactly why nobody is making you do this and most people don't.
The situation: North Port sits in one of the most active hurricane corridors in Florida. When Idalia and Ian came through, plenty of people lost not just their roof but their entire digital life — tax records, medical history, family photos, gone. A dead hard drive costs $300 to $1,500 to recover from a data lab, and that only works if the drive is not physically destroyed. The fix costs less than a dinner out.
1 Start with a flash drive for your most critical files
Before anything else, copy your irreplaceable documents — Social Security cards, insurance policies, deeds, Medicare cards — onto a USB drive and put it in a fireproof box or a relative's house inland. This costs almost nothing and takes twenty minutes. A flash drive is not a full backup strategy, but it is the thing you grab when you have five minutes before evacuation. I keep mine in the same drawer as my generator keys.
Start Here
Samsung MUF-256AB/AM FIT Plus 256GB USB 3.1 Flash Drive
$21.99
★★★★☆ 4.7 (28,000+ reviews)
"It sits flush with your USB port so you can leave it plugged in without snapping it off, and 256GB holds every document you own twice over."
⚠️ Avoid: Skip the cheap no-name drives from a bin display at a gas station — they fail at rates three times higher than name brands and you won't know until you need the file.
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2 Set up automatic cloud backup so you stop forgetting
Backblaze Personal Backup is $99 a year and backs up your entire computer automatically, continuously, in the background. You do not have to remember to do anything after the first install. If your laptop dies in a flood, you log into Backblaze from any device and restore everything. In Charlotte County where humidity corrodes drives faster than up north, cloud backup is not optional — it's just insurance you haven't bought yet.
Step 1
Backblaze Personal Backup — 1-Year Subscription
$99.00
★★★★☆ 4.6 (5,000+ reviews)
"Unlimited storage, automatic, and the restore process actually works — which is the only thing that matters when you need it."
⚠️ Avoid: Do not rely on free Google Drive or iCloud storage alone — 15GB fills up fast and when it stops backing up it does so silently, without warning you.
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3 Add a local external drive for fast recovery
Cloud backup is great but restoring 500GB over a slow post-storm internet connection can take days. A local external drive gets you back up in hours. The Western Digital My Passport plugs into USB and backs up automatically using software that comes with it. Keep it in a different room from your computer — not on the same desk — so one surge does not kill both.
Step 2
Western Digital 2TB My Passport Portable External Hard Drive, USB 3.0
$64.99
★★★★☆ 4.6 (112,000+ reviews)
"Two terabytes is more than most people will fill in a decade, the included backup software actually runs without fighting you, and WD has been making these long enough to get it right."
⚠️ Avoid: Skip the Seagate Backup Plus Slim if you plan to leave it plugged in long-term — its slim form factor runs warmer and in North Port summers that shortens drive life noticeably.
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4 Protect your drives from power surges after the storm comes back on
FPL power restoration in Charlotte County is not gentle — voltage spikes when the grid comes back online and that spike kills hard drives, computers, and anything else plugged into the wall. A surge protector is not enough for this. You want a UPS, which stands for uninterruptible power supply — it is a battery backup that keeps your computer running during a brief outage and absorbs the spike. I plugged mine in two years ago and have not thought about it since.
Don't Skip
APC UPS 1500VA Sine Wave UPS Battery Backup and Surge Protector, BR1500MS2
$209.99
★★★★☆ 4.7 (14,000+ reviews)
"Pure sine wave output is what modern computers and external drives actually need — cheaper stepped-approximation UPS units can still damage sensitive electronics over time."
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5 Store one backup copy offsite — a fireproof bag works
The 3-2-1 backup rule is: three copies, two local formats, one offsite. Your offsite does not have to be a data center. It can be an external drive at your adult child's house in Sarasota, or a fireproof bag in your car. A fireproof bag is not waterproof on its own, so put the drive in a zip-lock first. Hurricane Ian showed that water is often more destructive than fire — treat both threats.
Game Changer
JSVER Fireproof Document Bag 15 x 11 Inch, Fireproof and Water Resistant Safe Storage Bag
$29.99
★★★★☆ 4.5 (8,000+ reviews)
"Large enough to hold an external hard drive, passports, and a USB drive together so your offsite backup is one grab."
⚠️ Avoid: Do not use a standard zipper pouch or manila envelope for offsite storage — they offer zero protection from heat above 150 degrees Fahrenheit, which is well below what a house fire reaches.
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6 Check that your backup is actually working — once a month
Most people set up backup software, never open it again, and discover it stopped working eighteen months ago right when they need it. Set a calendar reminder for the first of every month to open your backup program and confirm the last successful backup date. Backblaze shows this on the main screen in large text. This step costs nothing and takes thirty seconds.
Pro Tip
Verbatim CD/DVD Disc Permanent Marker Pen 2-Pack, Black
$5.49
★★★★☆ 4.6 (2,100+ reviews)
"Write the backup date and what is on every physical drive you own — unlabeled drives are useless drives, and a sharpie on a sticky note peels off in Florida humidity."
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DIY total: $431 total — flash drive, one year of cloud backup, external drive, UPS, and fireproof bag
vs. professional: Data recovery from a failed drive: $300 to $1,500 per incident at a lab. Does not include replacing lost photos.
You save: Up to $1,500 per disaster avoided — and the first one pays for the whole system five times over
Your files will not survive because you meant to back them up.
isnotbadforyou.com/backups · A North Port neighbor's honest take
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