(Modified from conference plan by South East District)
Caring for People — Before a hurricane warning
● Identify a Local Church Disaster Coordinator to coordinate church plan and response.
● Identify a lay person who is the Risk Management Contact in the event of damage (chair of trustees, business manager).
● Have a "Congregational Care Team" (older persons with phone skills can do this well) identify widows, shut-ins, single moms, persons with special needs, residents of mobile homes, or elderly in your congregation and do the following:
Get contact numbers and find out where they will be staying in the event of a storm (after the storm, the team calls back, or visits, to see how they are doing).
Caring for the Church Facilities — Before a hurricane warning
● Trustees plan to secure building, electronics, files, etc.
● Summer/ Fall schedule of persons available to put up church and parsonage storm shutters.
● Inventory property (contents of building, especially electronics, musical instruments) — narrated video is a good record, along with a written inventory.
● Back up computer files.
Caring for Community — Before a hurricane warning
● If your church is interested in being a shelter, contact the American Red Cross to be "certified" as a shelter (this is necessary if you are planning on inviting people to stay at the church).
● If you believe you may want to provide meals for the community there are some non-perishables you could purchase before a storm (spaghetti and canned sauce, etc.) that you can use to provide a free meal to the community after a storm ﾑ or for a church supper when hurricane season is over.
Caring for Others in the Conference and Beyond in Disaster — Before a hurricane warning
● Identify persons with skills and resources who could be part of early response in a disaster somewhere else (persons with trucks, chain saws, building skills).
● Identify the persons who will coordinate the collection of flood buckets, food, money to help in disasters beyond our district.
Caring for Church Facilities — When a warning is posted
● Secure church buildings and parsonage(s) with shutters.
● Unplug electronics and raise electronics off of floor.
● Cover electronics and musical instruments with plastic.
● Secure financial documents.
● Accomplish above as soon as a warning is posted and then send staff home early to secure their families and homes.
Caring for People — When a warning is posted
● Have your "Congregational Care Team" telephone widows, shut-ins, single moms, persons with special needs, residents of mobile homes, or elderly in your congregation.
● Find out what assistance they need to secure their homes, (putting up shutters, etc.) and send team to help.
● Find out where they will be staying during the storm and get contact numbers.
● Have your Care Team prepared to call back after the storm to find out how these people are doing.
● Have the "Congregational Care Team" call vulnerable persons widows, shut-ins, single moms, special needs, residents of mobile homes or elderly in your congregation.
Caring for Community — When a warning is posted
● If you have been approved as a Red Cross shelter, you may open your doors to persons in the community, communicating this as you see fit.
● Consider being a "pet-friendly" shelter for people to bring pets, in cages or on leashes, with supplies.
● If you open your church as a shelter, designate persons who will be at the church during the storm.
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