Lessons learned: Hurricane veterans compile report for future disasters
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Priesthood leaders in Florida learned quickly that hurricanes don't come with an owner's manual.
Common sense and general Church counsel did offer the basics on what to do before, during and after the series of natural disasters that hit the Sunshine State several weeks ago. Indeed, the Scout motto "Be Prepared" worked well for folks who found themselves in the path of a hurricane.
Still, there were aspects of preparation overlooked in spots when the disasters hit.
Priesthood and welfare leaders from Florida, the U.S. Southeast and Church headquarters received plenty of on-the-job emergency response training as they weathered Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. In hopes of easing the blow of future disasters, the leaders have compiled a 64-page report titled "What We Learned from the Hurricanes in 2004."
"What we hoped to accomplish was something that future leaders would have to use so that they would not have to live and learn the same lessons," said Lake Mary Florida Stake President Douglas Carter, who helped develop the report.
The report, added Fort Meyer Florida Stake President Stephen E. Thompson, "provides a template for any area who could be impacted by a disaster."
"What We Learned from the Hurricanes" is not designed to replace time-tested counsel, direction and revelation from priesthood and welfare leaders. Instead, the collective observations of those who experienced the Florida hurricanes can supplement a ward or stake's disaster preparation and recovery plan.
The report is filled with attachments highlighting disaster preparation and response issues such as accounting for members after a disaster; dealing with members' spiritual needs; organizing local relief efforts; and working with stakes coming in from outside to help.
Also included are copies of the work order and volunteer registration forms that worked well during the massive, area-wide 2004 Florida hurricane season relief efforts.
While each stake likely had its own hurricane emergency plan prior to the 2004 season, a comprehensive report did not exist.
President Thompson said the information found in the new report would have saved his stake valuable response time when Hurricane Charley unexpectedly turned and sliced through Florida's southwest coast. The storm disrupted electrical power throughout President Thompson's entire stake. With computers down, bishops and other local leaders were unable to access addresses and locations of all their members. The stake's initial relief response was slowed because it could not immediately provide would-be relief workers with printed directions to the homes of hurricane victims. Instead, volunteers had to laboriously draft makeshift maps to reach impacted members.
Now the Fort Meyer stake has enlisted Internet mapping services to provide detailed directions from LDS meetinghouses to every home in the stake — a valuable resource for relief crews arriving from out of town. Such lessons are taught in the new report.
"We hope that each stake in the U.S. Southeast will review the material at the beginning of the hurricane season with their stake and ward leaders so that all are sensitized in case of a hurricane making landfall in their area," President Carter said.
The report is expected to be used in the coming months by local priesthood and welfare leaders to develop an abbreviated, user-friendly checklist of key instructions that priesthood leaders can use when disasters hit.
E-mail: jswensen@desnews.com
