June 21 – “Storm prep”

I went to the Jamaica Beach Hurricane preparedness meeting last Saturday.  Kind of solidifies the season.  There were a lot more people there than I expected.  The Jamaica Beach fire department bay was completely filled with people.  There were chairs set up and tables for displays around the edge, but it was standing room only.  And hot.  Very hot.  But they had several of those hugs fans going, so it was bearable. 

For it to have been a Jamaica Beach affair, there were sure a lot of Galveston dignitaries in attendance: Galveston city manager Kovaks, Galveston acting fire chief Wisko, Galveston mayor Rosen, Galveston chief of police Poretto. 

There were also representatives from:
Centerpoint Energy.  They had a drawing and gave away seven $25 gift cards from WalMart.  Our electric bill monies hard at work.  They asked me to draw the numbers out of the hat since I was, in his words, “a holy man of the cloth.”  Must have had something to do with wearing my Seaside T-shirt and my chaplain’s cap.

Galveston County Emergency Management.  This guy was very good.  Fun speaker to listen to and he really held the crowd’s attention.  He pointed out some of the “little things” in the hurricane survival manual they handed out.  Like the fact that the hurricane routes, the ones marked in red, were there for a reason.  He assured everyone that they could indeed try to escape the storm by taking a different route, but the only place they were going to see to it had gas and food available was on those red line routes.)

Red Cross.  If they had a speaker I must have missed it, but they did have a table of information.  And I guess their reputation kind of spoke for itself.

Insurance Companies.  A lady representing an insurance company collective talked about what to expect when you try to make insurance claims after a storm.  Gotta admit she was right on.  I wasn’t too excited about hearing it after living through it, though.

The Jamaica Beach city administrator John Brick was there.  I already knew him.  And I finally met the Jamaica Beach fire chief Baden.  That was actually my goal in going.  I introduced myself on FaceBook a while back, but I had never met him in person.  He told me he was very interested in Critical Incident Stress Management, and appreciated my offer of help in that area as chaplain.

Good meeting.  Hope a lot of those people were “newbies” to the area so they now know a bit about what to expect when a storm hits.  Yep.  I was born and raised here.  I know it will not be a matter of “if,” but “when.”

Psalms 96:5-6 says, “For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.  Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary.”

Father, protect us once again from the worst effects of the storms.  But even through them, remind us that you stand with us.  Amen.