Lay leader expresses concern about storm readiness

By Claudia M. Williams
Staff Writer
Lay Leader Jay Brim said last month that he hopes Southwest Texas Conference congregations don’t have to learn about hurricane preparedness the hard way.
“Hurricane predictions for the western Gulf of Mexico make it a high priority for us to prepare for the good of our individual congregations on the coast,” said Brim, a member of Westlake UMC, Austin.
Hurricane preparedness was on the agenda at Southwest Texas Conference laity assemblies in February and March. But since then, Brim said he hasn’t heard of any congregation following up.
Hurricane forecaster William Gray has predicted 13 to 16 named storms in the Atlantic Ocean before Dec. 1. Eight could become hurricanes, and four to six could become major storms.
“It’s not a matter of if the Texas coast will be hit by a hurricane,” Brim said. “It’s a matter of when.”
At Bishops’ Week at Mount Se-quoyah Conference Center in Fay-etteville, Ark., last month, Brim spoke with Bishop William W. Hutchinson of the Louisiana Episcopal Area and the Rev. Freddie Henderson, New Orleans District superintendent. Hurricane Katrina damaged many of their churches—and congregations—last August.
“Bishop Hutchinson told me about the problems they faced because they had to go in after the fact,” Brim said. “The DS told me about several churches that don’t exist anymore because the beach has moved seven to eight miles inland, wiping them out.”
Those churches were south of Lake Charles, La., Brim said.
Brim said he fears that hurricane preparedness is “not a front-burner issue (in Southwest Texas) given the conference’s concerns right now.”
Our churches, he said, are lucky they haven’t been “blown away yet.”