Hurricane Preparedness Guide for the Easily Distracted Pastor

There are a lot of checklists out there that can help your church prepare for hurricane season.  Unfortunately, they’re usually pretty long (like, over a page sometimes).  I find that, initially,  these checklist are important to pastors.  However, things come up and getting the church ready for a loss that COULD happen takes a back-seat to witnessing to a person that IS lost or visiting a member that IS sick.

I understand completely.  Melissa, my office manager, will tell you that checklists and “staying-on-task” are not exactly my strong suits.  For this reason, I feel perfectly qualified to give you the “Hurricane Preparedness Guide for the Easily Distracted Pastor”.  It’s only two steps and even I can focus on two steps (especially when one step requires that I delegate everything).

Step #1: Send this e-mail to someone else.  Really.  Right now.  Go ahead and delegate it because, if you’re like me, you know that if you don’t do it now its probably not going to happen.  So, give it away but give it to someone that has the time to work with at least four committee heads on storm preparation.  (Some would say that your church should form a “Safety and Security Ministry (SSM)” and I agree.  The only problem is that it is already hurricane season.  If you don’t have a SSM now, then just consider this the “beta” product.):

• Building and Grounds Committee – Its the property that’s going to get damaged and these people know the property like the back of their hands.  Plus, they usually know how to build stuff (which will come in very handy).  By the way, Lowe’s has provided terrific instructions on building storm shutters at http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=howTo&p=Safety/hurricanePrep.html&rn=RightNavFiles/rightNavSafetySecurity

• Community Outreach Committee – Even if you church comes through the storm unscathed, families in the area may not.  Don’t miss an opportunity to comfort and minister to people after the storm.  Mustard Seed Associates has an excellent article (and checklists) about compassion during a crises at http://msainfo.org/articles/lessons-learned-from-church-disaster-plans
  

• Finance Committee – The finance committee usually has access to things such as the insurance policy, bank contacts and, of course, the budget.

• Communications Committee – After a storm, you will need a way to let your members know what is going on and what kind of help is needed.  Since this will possibly have to be done without phones, e-mail or power, you’ll probably want to select a creative thinker that loves a challenge.

Step #2: Let your committee members come up with an awesome plan, however, make sure that they do the following three things right away:

1. Take photographs or video of all your property. Do you know how many folding chairs you have in your church right now?  No?  Good, because you have more important things to be thinking about.  However, in order to get claims paid quickly after the storm, you have got to tell the insurance company what you had before the storm.  This can be hard to do when your building’s contents are scattered across three counties.  Inventories are great but they take time and effort.  Taking photos and/or video now to use as a reminder later makes much more sense in the short-term.  You can walk though your church and get about 500 high resolution pictures on one, 2 gigabyte card in a fraction of the time it would take you to perform an inventory.  We have the technology; it would be wrong not to use it.
2. Get a copy of all your insurance policies, the Claims Department’s phone numbers and your agent’s phone number and put it some place safe.  Have hard copies of these items since you may be without power and the internet for a while.  Along with the photos, put this information in a secure place that won’t get blown away or wet e.g. a safety deposit box.
3. Know the answers to these three insurance questions since the answers can impact the final plan:

• Do we have wind and hail coverage? If you don’t, then most of the damage that can be caused by a hurricane is not going to be covered.
• What is our wind and hail deductible and do we have the money to pay it? If you have wind and hail coverage, you probably have a wind and hail deductible equal to 2-5% of the insured value?  For a $1,000,000 building, that’s somewhere between $20,000 and $50,000.
• Do we have a flood insurance policy? Flood is almost always excluded  in the standard property policy.  If your building is on the beach, a loss due to a tidal surge won’t be covered under your property form.  If you’re inland, damage from a creek that flooded due to five days of rain won’t be covered, either.  To get coverage, you’ll need a Flood Policy.

You probably won’t be able to place these coverage when the storm is brewing so, if you’re going to buy it,  now is the time.

I hope that this two step process will help.  However, if you really want that multi-page checklist, then click here for GuideOne’s Emergency Action and Recovery Plan.