Disaster Response Facts

The following information may be used in bulletins, newsletters, sermons, in Sunday school or during other teaching moments.

Disasters can be caused in any number of ways, including nature, human error, and violence. They can strike a person or a community at any time, with little or no warning. It is important to remember that first and foremost, every disaster is a local disaster.

The Virginia Conference has an organized disaster readiness plan consisting of three groups: (1) A Conference Disaster Response Team; (2) A trained District Response Team on each district; and (3) A Disaster Response Coordinator in each local church.

Regional disaster response trailers are placed throughout the conference but easily transportable to any disaster site. The disaster response trailers will be appropriately equipped to enable response within 24 hours of a disaster.

Training and encouragement to congregations as they participate in disaster readiness and response are provided by the Conference Disaster Response Team.

Our ministry to disaster survivors involves long-term recovery.

The length of time disaster recovery will take is determined by the number of days an area is under a state of emergency. Every day, people are unable to return to their homes because of a declared state of emergency correlates to 10 days before they can clean out their homes; every day a state of emergency exists means it takes 100 times as many days for people to repair their homes or build new ones.

Disaster response involves a ministry of caring as well as the coordination of communications, donations, and volunteers.