5 June 1976. Marilyn Gee of Sugar City, Idaho, was unloading grocery
sacks when a neighbor ran into her kitchen with the news that the Teton
Dam had burst. “Get your kids and get out. There’s no time to take anything
with you!”
Marilyn screamed at the kids to get in the car. “I figured we would be gone
three or four hours so I grabbed some oranges and bananas, a box of
graham crackers, some diapers for Shawn, and my purse. We pulled out of
the driveway, not dreaming we would never see our home again in one
piece.”
Their home was washed away in the flood’s fury. They found it days later—
a pile of debris smashed into some trees.
----
But Latter-day Saints are finding that the preparedness encouraged by the
Church—temporal, emotional, and spiritual—helps them feel more secure
and cope more successfully with the trauma.
---
But what if you have faithfully stored a year’s supply and it’s washed away
in a flood or carried away by a tornado or burned up in a fire?
“I found that the mental security of having a year’s food and fuel supply was
even more important than the physical security,” says Ruth V. Tingey of
Lincoln, Massachusetts. “If our year’s supply had been destroyed, then,
having been prepared and having helped others to have their supply of
food, I would have felt free to ask for their support, and they would have
given it without bitterness. When the Lord promises that if we are prepared
we shall not fear (see D&C 38:30), I think he means regardless.”
LDS families feel that by following the counsel to be prepared they are
witnessing to the Lord that they are obedient and that they have faith in his
promises. And many, unable to use their own storage, still receive the
benefits of a year’s supply—that of friends and family who come to their
rescue.
The experience of the Teton flood impressed many Saints with the need to
have something in addition to a year’s supply: a portable emergency supply
that’s ready to be thrown into the car at a moment’s notice. It should contain
enough water, clothing, equipment, and ready-to-eat food for the family to
survive on for seventy-two hours. Cash and important documents should
also be handy. (See lists in Essentials of Home Production and Storage,
pp. 7, 11.)
---
Playing “what-if” games (what would you do if there were no water, what
would you do if you heard our fire alarm go off in the middle of the night,
etc.) can help the whole family learn from their experience and prepare for
future disasters. And teaching family members to let each other know
where they are at all times can increase feelings of security.
----
And Church members typically don’t limit their help to other members.
“When they came with gas saws to help us out of our mess,” Bev Thomas
recalls, “they just moved right on down our street helping everybody else.
Later our neighbors asked if we knew who those men were that cut the
trees from their roofs and garages and then moved on. It was wonderful to
say that they were members of our church.”
---
Many Saints have experienced dramatic proof of the Lord’s concern for
them. “The worst damage literally zigzagged around us,” says Jean
Kreiner. “Eighteen neighbor families moved away because their homes
were so bad. Ours, though severely damaged, could be lived in. Our older
daughter’s room was the most severely damaged; she would have been
injured if she’d been there instead of being on her way to seminary. Our
twelve-year-old was getting up to go to the bathroom minutes before the
earthquake hit, but was prompted to stay in bed. Later, someone with the
same floor plan as ours told us that his face was badly cut up in the
bathroom during the earthquake. Our nine-year-old found herself in bed
with her feet where her head usually is. The head of her bed was covered
with books and other objects from the shelves above her. Our fourteen-
month-old son slept through the whole thing. The plaster by his crib was
broken but didn’t fall on him. If the chimney had fallen in on the house
instead of away from it, it would have crushed three children.”
Testimonies are borne by people who prayed for their homes to be spared:
the Lord answered their prayers in the midst of surrounding destruction. But
all homes aren’t spared, even when similar prayers are offered. Marilyn
Gee had pleaded for her home to be safe before she and her family fled,
but when they returned, all that was left were the foundation and the front
steps. “I wondered why my prayers hadn’t been answered like I wanted
them to be,” she says, “but I knew that sometimes the Lord says no—that
maybe we needed a little trouble so we could see what we were made of.”
So instead of dwelling on how the Lord hadn’t blessed her, she focuses on
how he had: “How grateful I was for our lives. How glad I was for a strong
husband who I knew could take care of us. I thought about why we were on
the earth—to be tried and tested. And I realized that this trial was nothing
compared to how it would have been if we had lost any of our family.
“I suppose the story of the flood will never really be over,” she continues.
“We’ll feel its influence for the rest of our lives. As we evaluate this
experience, we know that materially we were hurt for only a ‘small moment.’
The flood was more of an inconvenience than a disaster to us. Spiritually
we learned so much that it was almost worth going through what we did.
We have an ever-increasing trust that the Lord will care for and protect us.
We learned that bad things can turn into good. We learned the power of
compassion and love. We learned how much our neighbors and friends
mean to us. We learned that no matter what happens, it will give us
experience and will be for our good.”
sacks when a neighbor ran into her kitchen with the news that the Teton
Dam had burst. “Get your kids and get out. There’s no time to take anything
with you!”
Marilyn screamed at the kids to get in the car. “I figured we would be gone
three or four hours so I grabbed some oranges and bananas, a box of
graham crackers, some diapers for Shawn, and my purse. We pulled out of
the driveway, not dreaming we would never see our home again in one
piece.”
Their home was washed away in the flood’s fury. They found it days later—
a pile of debris smashed into some trees.
----
But Latter-day Saints are finding that the preparedness encouraged by the
Church—temporal, emotional, and spiritual—helps them feel more secure
and cope more successfully with the trauma.
---
But what if you have faithfully stored a year’s supply and it’s washed away
in a flood or carried away by a tornado or burned up in a fire?
“I found that the mental security of having a year’s food and fuel supply was
even more important than the physical security,” says Ruth V. Tingey of
Lincoln, Massachusetts. “If our year’s supply had been destroyed, then,
having been prepared and having helped others to have their supply of
food, I would have felt free to ask for their support, and they would have
given it without bitterness. When the Lord promises that if we are prepared
we shall not fear (see D&C 38:30), I think he means regardless.”
LDS families feel that by following the counsel to be prepared they are
witnessing to the Lord that they are obedient and that they have faith in his
promises. And many, unable to use their own storage, still receive the
benefits of a year’s supply—that of friends and family who come to their
rescue.
The experience of the Teton flood impressed many Saints with the need to
have something in addition to a year’s supply: a portable emergency supply
that’s ready to be thrown into the car at a moment’s notice. It should contain
enough water, clothing, equipment, and ready-to-eat food for the family to
survive on for seventy-two hours. Cash and important documents should
also be handy. (See lists in Essentials of Home Production and Storage,
pp. 7, 11.)
---
Playing “what-if” games (what would you do if there were no water, what
would you do if you heard our fire alarm go off in the middle of the night,
etc.) can help the whole family learn from their experience and prepare for
future disasters. And teaching family members to let each other know
where they are at all times can increase feelings of security.
----
And Church members typically don’t limit their help to other members.
“When they came with gas saws to help us out of our mess,” Bev Thomas
recalls, “they just moved right on down our street helping everybody else.
Later our neighbors asked if we knew who those men were that cut the
trees from their roofs and garages and then moved on. It was wonderful to
say that they were members of our church.”
---
Many Saints have experienced dramatic proof of the Lord’s concern for
them. “The worst damage literally zigzagged around us,” says Jean
Kreiner. “Eighteen neighbor families moved away because their homes
were so bad. Ours, though severely damaged, could be lived in. Our older
daughter’s room was the most severely damaged; she would have been
injured if she’d been there instead of being on her way to seminary. Our
twelve-year-old was getting up to go to the bathroom minutes before the
earthquake hit, but was prompted to stay in bed. Later, someone with the
same floor plan as ours told us that his face was badly cut up in the
bathroom during the earthquake. Our nine-year-old found herself in bed
with her feet where her head usually is. The head of her bed was covered
with books and other objects from the shelves above her. Our fourteen-
month-old son slept through the whole thing. The plaster by his crib was
broken but didn’t fall on him. If the chimney had fallen in on the house
instead of away from it, it would have crushed three children.”
Testimonies are borne by people who prayed for their homes to be spared:
the Lord answered their prayers in the midst of surrounding destruction. But
all homes aren’t spared, even when similar prayers are offered. Marilyn
Gee had pleaded for her home to be safe before she and her family fled,
but when they returned, all that was left were the foundation and the front
steps. “I wondered why my prayers hadn’t been answered like I wanted
them to be,” she says, “but I knew that sometimes the Lord says no—that
maybe we needed a little trouble so we could see what we were made of.”
So instead of dwelling on how the Lord hadn’t blessed her, she focuses on
how he had: “How grateful I was for our lives. How glad I was for a strong
husband who I knew could take care of us. I thought about why we were on
the earth—to be tried and tested. And I realized that this trial was nothing
compared to how it would have been if we had lost any of our family.
“I suppose the story of the flood will never really be over,” she continues.
“We’ll feel its influence for the rest of our lives. As we evaluate this
experience, we know that materially we were hurt for only a ‘small moment.’
The flood was more of an inconvenience than a disaster to us. Spiritually
we learned so much that it was almost worth going through what we did.
We have an ever-increasing trust that the Lord will care for and protect us.
We learned that bad things can turn into good. We learned the power of
compassion and love. We learned how much our neighbors and friends
mean to us. We learned that no matter what happens, it will give us
experience and will be for our good.”
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Ensign » 1982 » January
When Disaster Strikes:
Latter-day Saints Talk about
Preparedness
By Marvin K. Gardner
Assistant Editor
When Disaster Strikes:
Latter-day Saints Talk about
Preparedness
By Marvin K. Gardner
Assistant Editor
| Resources |
| Video of the Teton Dam Break north of Rexburg Idaho - 1975. [Click Here for more info] |
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