wfn.org | Tornadoes, Floods Spawn Damage

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3471 notes).

Note 3470 by UMNS on March 4, 1997 at 16:12 Eastern (7011 characters).

Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT: Linda Bloom                             116(10-71B){3470}
         New York (212) 870-3803                     March 4, 1997

United Methodists assist
in assessing storm damage

          by United Methodist News Service

     United Methodists were among people assessing damage or
bracing for higher flood waters March 3 after weekend storms and
tornadoes swept through several states.
     Virginia Miller, emergency response manager for the United
Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), reported that some local
churches are serving as shelters, working with the Red Cross and
other groups.
     Tornados touched down in the North Arkansas, Little Rock,
Kentucky and Mississippi United Methodist annual (regional)
conferences and flooding has occurred in the Kentucky, Ohio East, 
Ohio West, South Indiana, Memphis, Tennessee, West Virginia and
Illinois Great River conferences.
     Arkansas Bishop Janice Riggle Huie visited tornado-damaged
areas in three counties March 2-3.
     "It looks like a war zone. It's incredible," she said. "As
far as cleanup and recovery, a year would be a conservative
guess."
     In Arkansas, at least 25 people died, and state officials
reported another 400 people injured as a result of the violent
weather. More than 1,000 houses, mobile homes and other structures
were damaged or destroyed across the state.  Insurance adjusters
predicted more than $100 million in damage.
     In Clark County, Arkadelphia's downtown area was demolished.
Six people, including two children, were killed and 88 people were
injured seriously enough to require hospital treatment.
     Just minutes after the storm, "people were wandering around
downtown in a daze, not knowing what to do," said the Rev. Michael
Mattox, pastor of First United Methodist Church, Arkadelphia.
While not damaged, First Church is just a block and a half from
areas of downtown that were reduced to rubble.
     The largely rural Saline County was left a tangle of uprooted
trees, downed power lines and shredded debris. Several mobile home
parks were hard-hit. Ten county residents were confirmed dead by
March 2. Among them was Nann Southerland Schultz, 52, widow of a
United Methodist pastor, and her husband Athern Earl Schultz.
     Though massive trees were felled for miles around Little
Rock's Primrose United Methodist Church, the church itself was not
damaged. However, a tree landed across the Primrose parsonage,
about 500 yards from the church. The Rev. Jim Polk, his wife, and
three young children were not at home.
     In both Arkadelphia and Little Rock, United Methodists are
helping organize an interfaith response to relief and recovery
efforts. United Methodist churches in towns and communities across
the state are being used as shelters, feeding stations, warehouses
and assistance centers.
     The Salvation Army expects to be preparing meals from the
kitchen of Arkadelphia's First United Methodist Church for at
least a week, said Mattox.
     Claudette Ehrhardt, a United Methodist Committee on Relief
(UMCOR) disaster specialist from Stamps, Ark., is assisting with
relief and recovery efforts.
     Throughout the Southeastern Jurisdiction, the heaviest damage
and loss of life resulted from flooding, although volunteer work
teams were being organized to assist people in two tornado-damaged
ares of northern Mississippi.
     Many churches in Kentucky cancelled Sunday services because
of rising flood waters. Ten of the conference's 14 districts have
been affected.
     In central Kentucky's Pendleton County, where 90 percent of
all buildings have flood damage, Falmouth United Methodist Church
has four feet of water in the sanctuary and Butler United
Methodist Church's sanctuary level is flooded.  Ebenezer United
Methodist Church in Cynthiana, Ky., has significant damage but the
full extent has not been determined.
     In Shepherdsville, Ky., the entire business district is
flooded and Davidson Memorial United Methodist Church has
significant damage to its fellowship hall and other basement
rooms.
     In the neighboring Memphis Conference, the Rev. Dale Mills,
director of Reelfoot Rural Ministries, emptied the organization's
food pantry and picked up the tab for 100 blankets from a local
discount store in order to stock a Red Cross shelter for flood and
tornado victims.
     Church Grove United Methodist Church in rural northwestern
Tennessee, lost the roof of its ante-bellum building, believed to
be beyond repair.   
     In West Ohio, nine counties had been affected by flood waters
that had not yet crested. Three to six United Methodist churches
were expecting to sustain structural damage, according to the Rev.
Robert Davis, disaster coordinator. Among them was Otway Church in
Scioto County, where water inside the sanctuary stood five feet
deep. 
     Three churches in South Indiana suffered severe flood damage
and a fourth was threatened by the rising water.
     In Milton, W. Va., the Rev. Ed Hood, district disaster
coordinator, and the Rev. Richard DeQuasie, pastor of the Milton
United Methodist Church, gave away cleaning supplies to neighbors,
as well as food, clothing, bedding and furniture to flood victims.
     But water continued to rise there because of backup from the
tributaries of the Ohio River. Hood's church, the Lower Creek
United Methodist Church, already was severely damaged.
     The United Methodist Church in Hillsdale, Ill., was badly
damaged by flood water.  The church is built on three levels.  The
lowest level, including six classrooms and the church office, was
damaged. Carpet, paneling, some furnishings and supplies were
lost.  People waded in and saved the computer, copier, church
records and some other items.  The flooring in the Fellowship hall
on the second level was destroyed by mud and water. The sanctuary
on the upper level was undamaged.  The parsonage was on higher
ground but the pressure of water caused the basement floor drains
to back up filling the basement with several feet of water and
sewage.  The water caused damage to the furnace, water heater, and
electrical system requiring the structure to be vacated during the
flood.
     Flooding on a more limited basis is also occurring along the
Illinois River from Peoria south.  Flooding has also begun in
communities on the Ohio River in southern Illinois.
     People interested in volunteering to help with clean-up in
the damaged areas can call United Methodist Committee on Relief's
(UMCOR) volunteer hotline at (800) 918-3100.
     UMCOR is collecting donations of money for assistance, which
can be made through Advance No. 901670-1 or by mail to UMCOR at
475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115.
                              #  #  #

     * Several conference editors/communicators contributed to
this story.

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