Preparing for Disaster

This morning all eyes in the Upper Midwest, if not the nation, are on the Red River Valley. The Red River of the North, which flows between Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota on its way northward to Canada, has now surpassed its own record flood stage. At our house, we have been watching the news reports with great concern since my wife once lived in Fargo, my son went to college in Moorhead, and we are well acquainted with some of the area Lutheran congregations and their pastors. Classes at Concordia College, one of our ELCA schools, were cancelled for the better part of this week to allow students to help in sandbagging efforts. As of this morning, the campus has been closed and the section of Moorhead in which Concordia is located is being evacuated. The next few days will tell the story of how land and people are affected. Please join me in prayer.

(The photograph from Concordia's website shows President Pam Jolicoeur helping students fill sandbags.)

Disaster can strike anywhere. You know the stories of floods, hurricanes, tornados and fires. Is your congregation prepared? Lutheran Disaster Response, a collaborative effort of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, suggests three steps that every congregation should take to prepare. These come straight from the LDR website:

1) Identify a back-up location, where your congregation could gather for worship or prayer, in the event that your facility is either inaccessible or damaged in some way.

2) Backup all important church documents and directories, and have copies stored in an off-site location for use in the event that the original files are lost or damaged.

3) Identify a member, or a team of members, to serve as the primary point of contact in the event of a disaster. Then, develop and distribute a congregational phone tree, including cell phones or alternative locations, so that the entire membership can be easily located and accounted for after something has happened.

Lutheran Disaster Response also has a very useful manual available for download called Preparing for Disaster: A Guide for Lutheran Congregations. As we enter a season with volatile weather, this is an especially good time to have your congregation council do some thinking and preparation.

For information and downloads visit the LDR website: http://www.ldr.org/

For information regarding ELCA Disaster Response and how to help financially: http://www.elca.org/Our-Faith-In-Action/Responding-to-the-World/Disaster-Response.aspx

For information from FEMA on preparing at home: http://www.ready.gov/

Concordia College website: http://www.concordiacollege.edu/