Conference prepares for disaster response

As hurricane season continued last month, the Southwest Texas Conference took three steps last month to prepare for response to potential storms:
Conference leaders:
> Trained volunteers for early disaster-response teams.
> Sent disaster-response planning resources to all 346 congregations.
> Began a process to build a disaster-response warehouse and Volunteers in Mission training facility at Fair Oaks Ranch.
Thirty-one people attended United Methodist Committee on Relief certification training for early disaster response teams July 14 at Laurel Heights UMC, San Antonio. Another eight attended training July 15 at First UMC, Kingsville.
Barbara Tripp, a relief committee consultant from North Carolina, and Boo Walker, a Texas Forestry Service worker, led sessions.
Volunteers learned how to provide immediate assistance and a Christian presence to people affected by natural disasters—especially older or disabled individuals who might not have family members nearby.
Training covered how to:
> Remove debris and make temporary repairs to make homes safe, sanitary and secure.
> Install tarps on damaged roofs.
> Use chain saws safely.
> Avoid actions that could jeopardize a storm victim’s eligibility for insurance or government-relief benefits.
> Observe and respond to disaster victim’s material, emotional and spiritual needs.
Early response teams go into disaster areas as self-supporting units. Members are prepared to provide their own sleeping and cooking facilities. The team is designed not to be a burden on already stressed areas.
United Methodist volunteers providing disaster-response aid in the immediate aftermath of a storm must be part of an officially trained early response team, said Susan Hellums, Southwest Texas Conference Volunteers in Mission coordinator. She arranged the two July training sessions.
To help local church leaders prepare for potential natural disasters, the conference mailed planning aids to all congregations July 31.

The mailing included:
> A pre-storm building and structure inventory developed by the Florida Conference Risk Management Office.
> A planning guide titled “Preparing a Plan before Disaster Strikes.”
> A list of American Red Cross chapters serving counties in the Southwest Texas Conference. Those chapters can provide training and resources for disaster response and help congregations set up relief shelters in their facilities.
> A checklist of things to do when a disaster threatens.
> A page listing disaster-response resources the congregation could provide. The mailing asked church leaders to return that page to the conference office.
The feedback will help the conference create a database of disaster-response resources, said the Rev. Austin Frederick Jr., assistant to the episcopal office. The conference plans to use that database to mobilize local church resources when disasters strike.
Another possible resource to help Southwest Texas United Methodists respond to disasters more quickly and effectively, Frederick said, would be a warehouse and training facility adjacent to Spring Creek UMC, Fair Oaks Ranch.

Conference and San Antonio District officials visited the possible site of the facility July 27. Conference officials began talking with Spring Creek leaders in January about using a portion of the congregation’s 30-acre campus.
The site along Dietz Elkhorn Road is just east of Interstate 10 at the Fair Oaks Parkway exit.
If built, the facility—initially envisioned as a 15,000-square-foot structure—would provide a training site for mission volunteers and storage depot for disaster-response supplies, such as flood buckets, health kits and home-repair items. This stock should enable the conference to respond to in-state emergencies, especially in Southwest Texas, within 24 hours, plans say.