Parishioners bow heads, drop, cover and hold on. Churches could be key for quake survival, expert says
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In a program established for the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, churches are called on to understand the risk their parishioners face — whether from earthquakes, extreme heat, flooding or wildfires — and then create a disaster-resilience program.
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Other action items could include having the church’s building evaluated for structural safety and securing bookshelves and electronics to walls.
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The best way for communities to survive is to “shorten what is needed for recovery” after a disaster, she said.
The two methods to accomplish that are mitigation — checking retrofitting and evaluating flood risks, for example — and building community bonds. With the latter, Jones said that communities that share resources and stay in communication have a better chance of recovering.
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