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Dear friends in Christ,
"It was an exhausting trip to the flood area," Dory Campbell reflected.
"It was a heartbreaking scene. After almost a month, folks are still in a
state of limbo. FEMA, the National Guard, prison work groups and local
community and church groups are working against continued weather problems,
terrain difficulties, infrastructure inadequacies and red tape to help
people as they try to reclaim their lives. We saw homes moved off their
foundations, bridges washed out, cars smashed up against mobile homes, toys
and law furniture in the creek beds, piles of debris and silt."
These past days I've had the opportunity to talk with Ms. Campbell
(coordinator of the Evangelical Lutheran Coalition for Mission in
Appalachia), and with Bishop Ralph Dunkin (West Virginia-Western Maryland
Synod). They were part of a small group of Lutherans who recently visited
flooded areas in southwest Virginia and southern West Virginia.
Bishop Dunkin reported his tour of the flood region was surprising in
several ways.
ú "First, I have seen floods in the past. 'Normally' a flood is contained
in a city or a town. In this case the 24 counties that have been declared
disasters in southern West Virginia are extremely isolated and the entirety
of a county was not affected.
ú "My second surprise was in learning that several of the flooded areas had
been flooded four times. The first time by rains in May, followed by the
July 8 disaster and in some cases the rains of July 27 and 29.
ú "Third, the worst of the floods have been in the hallows of this
extremely mountainous area.
ú "Fourth, the floods of July 29 were not from rising rivers, lakes or
creeks but surface water that had no where to go except into basements or
the living areas of homes and trailers."
The American Red Cross reports 494 homes destroyed and 1,543 with major
damage. As many as 4,672 homes were damaged by water, mud, or are
inaccessible because of streets impacted with mud and other debris. "It
took us nearly four hours to make the turn around one of those bends,"
Bishop "Dunkin told me.
This is not a "Lutheran" disaster. Few Lutherans have been impacted. It
is a "poor persons" disaster. Lutheran Disaster Response (the cooperative
ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Lutheran
Church-Missouri Synod) is responding in West Virginia through the West
Virginia Council of Churches. An initial grant has been sent to help hire
a coordinator for long term recovery. In both West Virginia and Virginia
volunteers are needed to help clean up. The long-term efforts are still
being put together. LDR will be working closely with other faith
communities.
Please continue your prayer for those affected and those helping in this
response.
To volunteer, call:
In Virginia: Clinch Valley Community Action, (Tazewell) 1-540-988-5583
In West Virginia: Helen Minogue, 1-800-894-3577 (or 1-304-424-2779)
McDowell County Ministerial Assn., 1-304-436-2006 ask
for (Christine Hatfield)
Immanuel Lutheran Church (Bluefield) 1-304-327-7037
To contribute:
ELCA DOMESTIC Disaster Response - "West Virginia Floods"
PO Box 71764
Chicago, Illinois 60694-1764
Credit card gift line: 1-800-638-3522
Credit card gifts via the web: www.elca.org/disaster
LC-MS World Relief
P.O. Box 66861
St. Louis, MO 63166-9810
Credit card gift line: 1-888-930-4438
Bishop Dunkin concluded by saying, "The need is very real and it will not
go away quickly. As with most disasters they strike the poor the hardest.
Your prayers and gifts are definitely needed."
In Christ,
Gil Furst
GILBERT B. FURST (written on Sun, Aug 12, 2001,10:36 pm). Director for
ELCA DOMESTIC DISASTER RESPONSE (Division for Church in Society) and
LUTHERAN DISASTER RESPONSE (a cooperative ministry of the ELCA and LC-MS)
8765 W. Higgins Rd., Chicago 60631 PHONE: 773-380-2822 FAX: 773-380-2493
Please visit our website: www.elca.org/dcs/disaster
