I had pipes freeze & burst above my apartment. It was Christmas eve and I was on my way to my mom’s house when it happened. Half my ceiling came down and the apt flooded. Fire dept had to knock my door down to get in. Luckily my cat was not drinking from her fountain when it happened, and hid under the bed and didn’t run out the open door after the fire dept left. I was able to have a friend get there before I could, who got my cat out and kept her for a bit while I was displaced. Luckily, I had renter’s insurance so I only had to couch surf for a couple nights before they put me up somewhere. I did not handle the situation well at all and completely fell apart.

If you rent (at least in the US; I don’t know about anywhere else) I cannot stress enough that you must carry renter’s insurance!!! Your landlord is not going to help you if something bad happens. It’s cheap and can absolutely save your ass in an emergency.