Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 18 April 2025

These updates are shared to help raise the situational awareness of Faith-Based organizations to best defend against and mitigate the impacts from all-hazards threats including physical security, cybersecurity, and natural disasters. 

First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs: A Case Study on the Link Between Domestic Violence and Mass Attack 

• Event Date: April 23, 2025 
• Event Time: 1:00-2:30 PM EST 
• Register Here 

The U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) is pleased to announce a presentation on our latest publication, First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs: A Case Study on the Link Between Domestic Violence and Mass Attacks. Releasing on April 23, 2025, this behavioral case study examines the background and behavioral history of a gunman who killed 26 people, including his wife’s grandmother, and wounded an additional 22 others in an attack at a church in Texas. In this presentation, NTAC researchers will discuss this attacker’s long history of domestic violence, child abuse, and sexual violence perpetrated against friends, family members, and others. 

Wildfires Pose Growing Threat to Drinking Water Safety 

A new study by the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) warns that wildfires pose a serious threat to drinking water safety, especially during its distribution from treatment plants to homes. The research, published in Science, highlights how wildfires can introduce over 50 harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into water systems mainly through heat-damaged plastic pipes or smoke infiltration. One major concern is benzene, a known carcinogen, which was found in alarming amounts in post-wildfire water samples like in Santa Rosa, California, where unsafe levels persisted nearly a year after a 2017 wildfire. Researchers urge immediate action, especially in wildfire-prone areas like Los Angeles, recommending stricter monitoring, testing, and setting limits for wildfire-related contaminants. They emphasize that climate change and urbanization will only intensify these risks, making it critical to ensure water safety for public health. 

Analyst Comments: The increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires demand a shift in how we approach water safety. Property owners in wildfire-prone regions are encouraged to review their local water system, especially whether they rely on plastic piping, which is more susceptible to VOC contamination after fire exposure. Installing point-of-entry or under-sink activated carbon filtration systems can help remove certain volatile organic compounds, including benzene, as a short-term protective measure. Safeguarding drinking water from wildfire suggests, better infrastructure, smarter household practices, and tighter coordination between governments and communities 

2025 Hurricane Season Outlook: Not Quite 2024, But Above-Average US Landfall Threat 

The Weather Company and Atmospheric G2 have released their outlook for the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, projecting an above-average level of activity. The forecast anticipates 19 named storms, including nine hurricanes and four major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher), surpassing the 30-year average of 14 named storms, seven hurricanes, and three major hurricanes. While the total number of storms may be slightly lower than in 2024, the threat of U.S. landfalls remains elevated. Long-range models suggest that atmospheric patterns could steer more hurricanes toward the U.S. coastline, with an estimated three hurricanes potentially making landfall in 2025. Sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea are warmer than average, though not as high as in 2024. Conversely, the eastern Atlantic’s Main Development Region (MDR) exhibits near-average or slightly cooler temperatures, which could moderate storm development in that area. The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is expected to remain in a neutral phase during the peak of the hurricane season (August through October), neither enhancing nor suppressing hurricane activity. Given these projections, residents in hurricane-prone regions are advised to prepare accordingly, as even a single landfalling hurricane can have significant impacts. 

Analyst Comments: Warming oceans and shifting climate patterns are lengthening and intensifying hurricane seasons and 2025 is part of that trend. 2025 has potential to be an impactful season, particularly given some of the actual, and anticipated operational changes at FEMA. Some experts have raised concerns about potential forecasting challenges with staff downsizing at the National Weather Service, while the Trump administration has indicated FEMA will be taking a step back in disaster recovery beginning on Oct. 1. Whether any of these changes have a long term positive or negative impact, the drastic operational changes have the potential to be disruptive in this first year.  

It is important to have a detailed emergency plans and a hurricane kit in order to be prepared for hurricane season. It is advised to have the non-perishables, water, medications, batteries, have evacuation routes, secure important documents, reinforce windows, doors, and roofs as well as back up any important digital files. Below are several resources which may benefit members of the faith-based community. 

• FEMA: How to Prepare for a Hurricane 
• Ready Business: Hurricane Toolkit