Last September, I was invited by my local church leaders to attend a preparedness workshop offered by the city of San Antonio, TX. At this meeting I learned about the plans the city has to prepare for disasters. I learned about different recent disasters and how to get notifications during upcoming disasters. I also signed up to volunteer with the Red Cross. At the time, my local church leaders were also encouraging us to be more active in our communities.
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| Damage to a home in Port Aransas, TX after Hurricane Harvey |
I trace my involvement with the Red Cross to these events but in addition, I must mention that I attribute divine intervention to my choice to volunteer at this time since I have so many young children at home. In December or January, I began to wonder what kind of disaster God was planning to send on my area. Not knowing the answer, I held that thought.
In August, we had three hurricanes hit the United States one after the other. In addition, Mexico experienced two earthquakes greater than 6.5 magnitude on the richter scale. Then we had a series of fires in California that burned many acres and displaced 100,000 people. While each disaster was regional, the effect was far reaching. Every disaster affected the local population as well as the family and friends who live elsewhere. In a sense, they have affected all of us. As one friend posted on Facebook before Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, “I don’t know if I have the emotional energy to handle another hurricane.”
