More than 300 religious and community leaders and emergency response professionals attended a disaster relief event at the Bible Baptist Church in Jefferson City Tuesday.
The event was put together to discuss the widespread natural disasters in Missouri in 2011. Phillip Iman is the disaster relief coordinator at the American Red Cross. He says there are many different ways for community organizations to partner with the Red Cross following a disaster.
“Every disaster starts locally and you don’t know who it’s going to affect and who it isn’t, so the more people that are prepared, the better off you and I and everybody else is going to be too,” Iman said.
The event highlighted the response following last year’s disasters, and also aimed to prepare leaders for the unique demands churches and other communities face following a large-scale disaster.