When parents send their child to camp, they want their child to have an enjoyable time and return home safely. They do not want their child swept away and drowned in a flash flood.
When a family relocates to new community or district, they do not want to discover that their new home is located in the flood zone of a creek or river.
They do not want to learn that a local government official opposed the installation of a flash flood warning system because the warning sirens might disturb his sleep.
They do not want to wake in the middle of the night with muddy water seeping under the door of their bedroom or pouring through a window.
They do not want to hear the terrified screams of those trapped by rising water or watch helplessly as family members drown and then suffer the same fate themselves.
What impacts a community, district, or region will impact the churches in the community, district, or region. It is an unpleasant reality to which will not disappear if we close our eyes to it.
Repeated flooding can cause businesses, jobs, and families to move away from a flood-prone community or district. A church may see reduced attendance and giving and even may be forced to close its doors.
On the other hand, some families may stay because they have no other choice.
A large part of the remaining population of the community or district may suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome. This may be accompanied by depression, suicide, alcoholism, substance abuse, domestic violence, and other mental health problems.
What churches are left in the community or district will not be unaffected.
On December 10, 2021 a tornado destroyed or heavily damaged several churches as well as homes and businesses in Mayfield, Kentucky. Mayfield is roughly a 30 minute drive from where I live.
Severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, microburst, and flash floods have become increasingly more common in western Kentucky in recent years. The town where I live has tornado sirens which often sound during bad weather when radar picks up a dangerous storm cell.
On December 10, 2021 a tornado destroyed or heavily damaged several churches as well as homes and businesses in Mayfield, Kentucky. Mayfield is roughly a 30 minute drive from where I live.
Severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, microburst, and flash floods have become increasingly more common in western Kentucky in recent years. The town where I live has tornado sirens which often sound during bad weather when radar picks up a dangerous storm cell.
The summers have become hotter and the winters colder. The summers and winters were milder when I first began spending summer and winter vacations in the region in the 1970s.
Before I moved to western Kentucky, I lived in southeastern Louisiana. During that time, I experienced several hurricanes as well as severe thunderstorms, a tornado, and flooding. I have seen the devastation that hurricanes and tornadoes can cause.
My older brother’s home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina as was his sister-in-law’s beautician’s shop.
I have experienced street flooding in New Orleans that was so bad that the water was chest-high in some places.
The campus of the university which I attended after high school flooded whenever we had a severe thunderstorm. Students had to wade to class from their dorms. A few enterprising students keep a small boat at their dorm and ferried their friends to class. On occasion the flooding was so bad that classes were cancelled.
Before I moved to western Kentucky, I lived in southeastern Louisiana. During that time, I experienced several hurricanes as well as severe thunderstorms, a tornado, and flooding. I have seen the devastation that hurricanes and tornadoes can cause.
My older brother’s home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina as was his sister-in-law’s beautician’s shop.
I have experienced street flooding in New Orleans that was so bad that the water was chest-high in some places.
The campus of the university which I attended after high school flooded whenever we had a severe thunderstorm. Students had to wade to class from their dorms. A few enterprising students keep a small boat at their dorm and ferried their friends to class. On occasion the flooding was so bad that classes were cancelled.
In the district where my family home was located, the roads were often closed due to high water after heavy rain. The local creeks would overflow their bridges.
A number of subdivisions regularly flooded when it rained heavily. A principal reason for this flooding was that the real estate developers had not given sufficient attention to the natural drainage in planning these subdivisions and constructing homes. More than one subdivision was bult in the flood zone of a creek that was prone to flooding during heavy rain.
On one occasion the swift current of a creek that overflowed its banks nearly swept my car away when I foolishly tried to drive through the water where it crossed the road. Thankfully my car engine did not die, and I was able to reach a section of the road that was above the water.
My car, however, did not escape entirely unscathed. The water current tore off a part of the undercarriage of my car.
Needless to say, I never took that road again after heavy rain.
For a number of years, I was also an emergency worker for the State of Louisiana as an employee and officer of the state. While residents might evacuate an area in the event of a natural disaster or some other public emergency, we were expected to assist first responders, particularly in areas which organizations like the Red Cross classified as too dangerous for their own workers. As a consequence, I came to have some idea of the capabilities and limitations of state and local governments in the case of such events. It was quite clear that they could not deal with major public emergencies without federal assistance.
While local churches can play a role In such emergencies, what they can do depends upon how they have fared during the emergence. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina my church served a food and water distribution center and housed disaster relief teams clearing away downed trees and other debris after the hurricane and installing “blue roofs” on hurricane damaged houses. The United Methodist church near where I lived also served as a water and food distribution center.
Living through a hurricane like Katrina and its aftermath can leave a deep impression on a person. It can give an individual a far greater appreciation of the need for a comprehensive natural disaster response involving federal, state, and local government and faith-based organizations than can a brief tour of the scene of a natural disaster or no exposure to such a event at all.
Whatever may be the cause, the United States and the world has entered a period of severer weather. This weather brings with it a greater likelihood of heat waves, droughts, blizzards, mud slides, wildfires, flooding, hurricanes, and tornadoes.
While the response of Federal Emergency Management Administration to natural disasters could be improved in a number of ways, dismantling the agency is short-sighted. It is unrealistic to expect the states to respond to such emergencies on their own. They don’t have the resources and may become quickly overwhelmed by a major natural disaster.
United States is not a loose confederation of states but a federal union of states. Among the purposes of the federal government is to employ the resources that are available to it to tackle problems that affect the nation as whole.
A number of subdivisions regularly flooded when it rained heavily. A principal reason for this flooding was that the real estate developers had not given sufficient attention to the natural drainage in planning these subdivisions and constructing homes. More than one subdivision was bult in the flood zone of a creek that was prone to flooding during heavy rain.
On one occasion the swift current of a creek that overflowed its banks nearly swept my car away when I foolishly tried to drive through the water where it crossed the road. Thankfully my car engine did not die, and I was able to reach a section of the road that was above the water.
My car, however, did not escape entirely unscathed. The water current tore off a part of the undercarriage of my car.
Needless to say, I never took that road again after heavy rain.
For a number of years, I was also an emergency worker for the State of Louisiana as an employee and officer of the state. While residents might evacuate an area in the event of a natural disaster or some other public emergency, we were expected to assist first responders, particularly in areas which organizations like the Red Cross classified as too dangerous for their own workers. As a consequence, I came to have some idea of the capabilities and limitations of state and local governments in the case of such events. It was quite clear that they could not deal with major public emergencies without federal assistance.
While local churches can play a role In such emergencies, what they can do depends upon how they have fared during the emergence. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina my church served a food and water distribution center and housed disaster relief teams clearing away downed trees and other debris after the hurricane and installing “blue roofs” on hurricane damaged houses. The United Methodist church near where I lived also served as a water and food distribution center.
Living through a hurricane like Katrina and its aftermath can leave a deep impression on a person. It can give an individual a far greater appreciation of the need for a comprehensive natural disaster response involving federal, state, and local government and faith-based organizations than can a brief tour of the scene of a natural disaster or no exposure to such a event at all.
Whatever may be the cause, the United States and the world has entered a period of severer weather. This weather brings with it a greater likelihood of heat waves, droughts, blizzards, mud slides, wildfires, flooding, hurricanes, and tornadoes.
While the response of Federal Emergency Management Administration to natural disasters could be improved in a number of ways, dismantling the agency is short-sighted. It is unrealistic to expect the states to respond to such emergencies on their own. They don’t have the resources and may become quickly overwhelmed by a major natural disaster.
United States is not a loose confederation of states but a federal union of states. Among the purposes of the federal government is to employ the resources that are available to it to tackle problems that affect the nation as whole.
This includes providing assistance to a community, district, region, state, or several states in the wake of a natural disaster or other public emergency and taking steps to mitigate the effects of future public emergencies such as the construction of levees, pumping stations, floodgates, spillways, and other forms of flood protection. It includes tracking tropical storms, hurricanes, and other weather systems that can cause flooding.
The federal government is meant to serve the common good and not the special interests of one group or individual.
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