Lesson 14: Preparing For Emergencies

Objective

Members of stake and ward welfare committees will be better able to prepare for and respond to emergencies.

Materials for This Lesson

Copies of the Guidelines for Ward and Stake Emergency Plans for each paticipant. Use the link provided to download a copy of the guidelines.

Statement from the Church Handbook of Instructions

Invite a participant to read the following statement:

The stake welfare committee, under the direction of the stake president, prepares a stake emergency response plan. This plan should be coordinated with similar plans (from other stakes in the coordinating council) and in the community. During an emergency, bishops report to the stake presidency on the condition of Church members and Church property. The stake presidency then reports to the Area Presidency. Church leaders should make the services of the Church available to civil authorities during an emergency. They also should take independent action on behalf of Church members as needed. (See Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 1: Bishoprics and Stake Presidencies [2006], 9–10).

Scripture

Remind participants that the Lord has promised, “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear” (D&C 38:30). Discuss how being prepared can bring peace.

Key Points

Help participants understand the following points, and discuss them as needed:

1. Widespread and severe emergencies include disasters caused by forces of nature, war, civil unrest, and economic failures.

2. President Thomas S. Monson has stated, "Faithful compliance with...revealed welfare principles and practices have preserved lives in times of crisis.... May we be prepared as individuals and as families, may we teach, may we lift, may be build, may we motivate, may we be inspired as we seek to bring our lives into conformity with these gospel principles" ("Guiding Principles of Personal and Family Welfare," Ensign, Sept. 1986, 5).

3. Each stake and ward welfare committee has the responsibility to plan how it will respond to the most likely emergencies or disasters they may face (see Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2: Priesthood and Auxiliary Leaders [1998], 315–16, 318).

Ask participants: What emergencies are most likely in your area?

4. Stake and ward leaders have the responsibility to teach and encourage members to prepare for emergencies.

5. If emergencies affect more than one stake, a member of the Presidency of the Seventy or the Area Presidency designates an Area Severbty or one stake president to coordinate response activities.

6. The Church cooperates with civil authorities both in planning and in responding when disasters occur.

Ask participants to discuss how their ward or stake can coordinate emergency preparation and response efforts with their community.

Emergency Response in Beaumont Stake, Texas, USA

Read the following account:

Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005, southeast of Louisiana, with the eye of the storm passing near Waveland, Mississippi. A week after the storm hit, President Petersen of the Beaumont Texas Stake recieved the assignment to organize a crew of members to help in the recovery efforts in Waveland. For three days, the volunteers helped clean out houses, remove trees, tape roofs, and offer comfort wherever possible.

Although the Beaumont Texas Stake already had an emergency response plan in place, the experience in Waveland helped stake and ward leaders realize what it takes to really be prepared before, during, and after a hurricane. Stake leaders used the lessons learned during that experience to improve their planning. Those lessons came into play less than three weeks later when Hurricane Rita (the fourth most intense hurricane ever recorded) hit the state of Texas, with the eye of the storm passing over the Beaumont Texas Stake.

Using priesthood lines of comunication, the members of the stake were quickly accounted for after the hurricane passed. Local work teams were out the next day helping members and neighbors in the recovery effort.

In spite of all the preparation, Church leaders never anticipated that hurricane force winds would be felt over 100 miles inland. Members of the Jasper Branch planned to sit out the storm over 100 miles from the coast. As the storm drew closer, it was too late for them to evacuate, and the branch leaders asked the stake presidency if they could use the Jasper Branch meetinghouse as a shelter. With permission, the building sheltered over 100 members during the storm. At the height of the storm, one of the older members called from his home and said he and his familyhad lost electricity and because of medical needs required evacuation. Two priesthood brethren braved the storm to rescue this older couple and preserve their lives.

Since Hurricane Rita, three other hurricanes have hit the Beaumont Texas Stake. As President Petersen put it, "The lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina have served us well."

Discuss how the steps taken by local leaders in this situation helped to save and bless lives. Ask participants what else local leaders could have done to prepare for or respond to this emergency. Use the Guidelines for Ward and Stake Emergency Plans (accompanying this lesson) to guide the discussion.

Practice

Give participants a copy of Guidelines for Ward and Stake Emergency Plans (accompanying this lesson). Invite participants to use the guidelines to create or update their own plan. Encourage bishops and stake presidents to make assignments in their next welfare committee meeting to ensure that these plans are carried out during an emergency. Remind them to plan ways to teach members how to prepare themselves for emergencies.