Man-made Disasters

“The bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.” (Isaiah 9:10)

Disasters can be both natural and the result of human activity.  Those in the latter category are largely preventable, and therefore regrettable.  Some are more likely to impact your church because of its location.  We need to be ready for those.

Here are a few:

1) Spills

2) Explosions

3) Wrecks:

     a. Autos & Trucks

     b. Trains

4) Structural Failures:

     a. Buildings

     b. Dams

5) Technological Failure and Cyber Crime

6) Epidemics and Pandemics

These disasters can affect churches in in different ways.  I want to cover a few of these as examples of what can happen and how we can prepare for them.

Spills

Spills are common. They can range from simply wasteful to damaging to dangerous.  Here, we are primarily concerned with hazardous spills.  Most spilled materials are flammable, corrosive, or toxic.  

Other materials can cause hazardous walking or driving conditions by making surfaces slick or sticky.  Spills can come from different sources such as, leaking or toppled tanks, open or faulty valves, or a container overflows.  A flammable spill makes immediate evacuation necessary. Toxic spills may even require sheltering in place.

Here are some instructions for sheltering in place:

1. Take everyone, pets included, to an inside room, preferably one without windows.

2. Turn off all fans, AC units, and forced-air heating-cooling systems.

3. Close all doors and windows in the building.

4. Seal, as best you can, the door and any windows in the shelter room.

5. If your church is far enough from the spill, it may be asked to shelter evacuees.

You can prevent spills on church property by ensuring that all containers are properly closed and stored and are in good condition.  This includes fuels, paints, solvents, and cleaning products. Also prevent water leaks, since these may cause slippery surfaces and damage property.

Explosions

Natural gas and propane are the most common causes of explosions in homes, businesses, and churches.  Another cause is closed containers near heat sources, followed by steam explosions when the safety valves on water heaters and boilers won't work.

If you are aware of an explosion close to the church, warn members of danger if an activity, meeting, or service is scheduled.  Check the church property for damage or debris.  If you find any, leave it alone and report it to the authorities, it is evidence they may use in an investigation.

For prevention, have all gas appliances checked regularly and adjusted or repaired if needed. Check safety valves on water heaters and boilers annually or even twice a year.

Wrecks

There are all kinds of wrecks on highways, streets, and railways.  Some of these wrecks may affect churches.

1. Autos & Trucks

Roadway accidents are the most common wrecks.  Since churches are by or close to public roads and streets, these are the wrecks most likely to involve a church.  Vehicles have gone off the road and into church buildings or into a playground.  Some involve church vehicles.  Also, wrecks can cause hazardous spills.

What is the liability a church may have in a wreck?  Vehicles used by a church can be involved in wrecks, and liability may include church members taking persons not in their families to a church event if they were acting for the church, such as if they were asked to provide transportation.  Check with your insurance provider about your state's laws on this.  Keep all church vehicles in safe condition.

An iffy issue is whether the church is contributing to collisions on their street.  Low corner signs could hamper visibility of drivers at the intersection, and so could overgrown shrubbery.  You never know when a driver in an accident will claim blocked visibility in a lawsuit.

2. Trains

Not every church is close to a rail line, but some are. However, the danger for most churches from a train wreck is a hazardous material spill. There may be an explosion. Some train wrecks have started wildfires. There's not much the church can do but evacuate if needed and be prepared to treat injuries.

Structural Failures

Many people throughout history have been killed by structural failures. Thousands died when Samson literally brought down the house. (See Judges 16:29-30)  Hundreds of years later, about 20,000 died when a hastily-built stadium near Rome collapsed.

1. Buildings

In Europe, churches and cathedrals have collapsed.  They learned the hard way how to build big and make it last.  In some countries with poor building inspection (often involving bribery), structural failures are common.  Bribery by contractors also happens in some places in the United States.  Some contractors cheat on materials.  If your church has a building project, do what you can to ensure that it is done right.  That is one way to protect the flock.

2. Dams

Dams can be a blessing.  They can store water for irrigation or drinking, make lakes for recreation, generate hydroelectric power, and provide flood control.  But if a dam fails, it can destroy property and lives downstream.  If a waste-impoundment dam breaks it can contaminate a large area, including the drinking water supply.

We cannot prevent a dam from failing, but we can heed advisories and warnings and get our people out of the way as a dam is about to fail. 

Technological Failure and Cyber Crime

Face it. We do not have perfect technologies.  Otherwise, why are they always being improved and upgraded?  Computers can and do fail.  It is wise to back up all the church's records on remote devices, especially off-site.  That way, if for some reason the records in the church are destroyed, they can be replaced from the back-up devices.

We also need to guard against cyber crime.  Thieves try to break into church computers. Scammers try to defraud the church or its members.  Guard your system by using strong passwords, and limit access to system administration.  Install self-updating anti-virus and anti-malware applications, and monitor activity on the church's computer system.

Ransomware viruses can encrypt all or most of the church's data and demand payment before letting you have your data back.  If all your data is safely backed up, you can just reformat and clean up the system, then download your data from back-up.  The computer system should be in contact with back-up only when you are backing up or restoring data.

Epidemics and Pandemics

Unless you live in a cave you are aware that the world is presently going through a pandemic from COVID-19. This isn’t the first, nor will it be the last, pandemic or epidemic our world will experience so there is a need to learn about precautions a church can take to protect its members and guests.

Knowledge: Know what is going on (and going around).  Practice preventing transmission.  Wash hands, Sanitize surfaces, especially those touched by many different people, and hand sanitizers.  Remind people to cover mouths and noses when coughing or sneezing.  Encourage members to stay away if they may be contagious.  Urge them to seek medical attention if they become ill.  Sometimes it may be sensible to cancel services to block the spread of infections. Listen to the advice of medical authorities.

Keep yourself healthy: Use good nutrition, hygiene, and be careful in food handling.  Dogs and cats may be cute and loving, but they can also contaminate food if we are not careful.  Not everyone will be as careful.  In the case of a local highly-contagious disease outbreak, avoid carry-in dinners.  I know this will be unpopular with some people.

We can prevent some human-caused disasters.  We can protect ourselves and the church from others when they do happen.  We can be prepared to help people when they are hurt or displaced by a disaster.

Be safe!