Whether you’re moving across the street, to a new city, or even overseas, there is no guarantee that everything will push through without a single obstacle. In worst-case scenarios, an unfortunate event might occur on your scheduled moving date. One of the most likely factors that might affect your move is the weather. Whilst it is mostly sunny in different parts of Australia, who’s to say there won’t be rain, flood, rail delays, pandemic impacts, or there won’t be a storm on the day of your scheduled move. To avoid going through unnecessary stress, always be prepared for worst-case scenarios and when something happens, always try to stay calm.

In case situations get too dangerous, or movement of your goods becomes impractical, there is a possibility that your move will not occur in the time frame that you ideally planned for. If this happens, stay calm and do the following:

Before uplift or delivery

1. Check for updates

If an unfortunate event occurs on the day of your scheduled move, it is likely that your move will still push through. Unless the roads are impassable due to floods or the weather conditions will make the move too difficult, professionals will still deliver your goods if the condition in your area is safe and will not cause any damage to the goods that will be delivered.

Do not panic or overthink, if you feel uncertain, you may contact the removals company to ask for updates or address any concern you may have regarding your move. Aside from the updates provided by the company, look out for any changes in the situation near your area and inform your removalist immediately so they can assess if the condition in your area is suitable for uplift or delivery.

• Monitor updates from news channels to find out if roads are accessible or if certain conditions may impede the uplift or delivery of your goods.
• Watch out for updates provided by authorities or from the members of the community.
• Look out for changes within your area (If you are at home, take a look at the situation outside and see if you feel comfortable about going through with your plans).
• Communicate with your removalists or landlord to make sure that there won’t be any issues delivering your items to your new home.

Before uplift

2. Create a checklist

To make sure that nothing will be left behind no matter how urgent the move is, try your best to create a simple checklist of the most important items that you need to take with you, especially documents (IDs, passports, medical records, etc.), pieces of jewellery, and other personal items. Keep the checklist until your belongings are delivered to your new home, so you can use it as a reference to check if everything has been delivered safely.

3. Consider hiring professional movers

Hiring professional removalists increases the chances that your move will push through even through harsh weather conditions. Professional removalists also have a range of equipment that can help them perform the move and navigate through the property to safely move your belongings, especially heavy boxes/containers and large pieces of furniture.

4. Check available supplies

Using new or sturdy packing materials is ideal to keep your belongings safe no matter what the weather condition is during the day of your move. Check if you have the right supplies to properly pack your belongings before you start packing. If you have sturdy moving boxes or plastic containers, you can use these to pack your belongings. If you are going to take fragile items, make sure that you have wrapping papers, blankets, towels, and other materials that you can use to wrap and secure items such as plates, vases, and glasses.

5. Pack valuable in labelled boxes

It may be difficult to keep everything in check, so to make it easier to pack items in labelled boxes, pack by room and label the boxes per room. Quickly list down everything on one side of the box to make it easier to locate your belongings once your items arrive in your new home. Focus on speed over organisation, especially if your time is limited.

Whilst it is highly recommended that you purge items you no longer need in your new home, you may not have enough time to sort through your belongings before packing. You can pack everything and do the sorting later on when your belongings arrive in your new home.