5 June 1976. “All we had for dinner was bread as we watched the flood waters roll in from our camper atop the hill,” recollected Bruce Eckman, former owner of Rexburg Food Storage. “Our first meal was up on campus in the cafeteria: bouillon soup and sea biscuits.”
Eckman was 18 when the Teton Dam broke and 80 billion gallons of water came pouring through the Teton River canyon. He doesn’t remember where the food came from but was grateful for it. His father taught in the Austin building at the time, and for what seemed like two months, he and his family slept on top of the podium in the classroom, victims of the Teton Flood. 13,000 cattle deceased, 11 people dead , $2 billion of damage caused. The blessing? School was out of session- few students were on campus during the summer.
Now, school is in session in the summer and the student population is effectively one half of the city’s total population, and those students are ill-prepared, un-aware, and non-caring towards emergency preparation.
Another flood isn’t likely to wipe out Rexburg, as the locals aren’t keen on the idea of a new dam, but many other potential disasters threaten the area, our homes, and our lives.
Droughts, wind storms, earthquakes, and fires; from the more mild- a hot day- to the more extreme- the explosion of the Yellowstone Caldera super-volcano, or trouble at the Idaho National Laboratory- to the most likely-severe winter weather- all challenge your life. Campus, Church, and government officials are all doing their part to prepare, but many students rely on a pillow for a crutch and find comfort in myths of others’ benevolent preparation.
On campus the University Emergency Council oversees precautions. Compiled of four branches- operations, planning, logistics, and administration- it certifies that students and employees will be safe during emergencies. Electronic sensors and systems allow two-thirds of campus to lock-down at any moment. Campus blue-phones and the text-messaging web facilitate mass communication though out campus and to individual students. A rotated meal supply housed on campus provides nourishment for 72 hours to one-week. Government officials will administer the first nation-wide test of the Emergency Alert System over radio, TV, and cable channels. Nearly 300,000 people died in more than 350 natural disasters in 2010, the deadliest year in the last quarter century. The Church helped victims in 58 countries last year, responded to 119 disasters and provided millions of dollars in emergency aid, according to Newsroom. The campus is astute, the government is ready, and the Church is prepared, and you are playing angry birds.
I wager that the average BYU-I student’s food storage consists of little more than a Hot-and-Sweaty cooling off in the fridge, and a few cans of green beans waiting to be purchased at the case lot sale. I don’t expect us to build a fortress in the mountains with enough food and ammunition to last a decade, but I do find it prudent to heed the Lord’s advice to be prepared and self-reliant. As Eckman noted, the most likely disaster isn’t some epic out of Hollywood, but its the loss of a job, a surprising health issue, or rising financial turmoil. Things that happen everyday.
"If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear." D&C 38:3.
And the best part is: if ye are prepared, you will be empowered to offer a helping hand, to be someone’s angel in their time of need. Prepare yourself.
