wfn.org | Episcopal Church responds as storms

[ENS.parti@ecunet.org]

March 7, 1997
Episcopal News Service
Jim Solheim, Director
212-922-5385
ens@ecunet.org

97-1704
Episcopal Church responds as storms and floods batter several states

by Mike Barwell
      (ENS) Thousands fled to higher ground during the first week of
March as torrential rains caused flash floods throughout a five-state
region flanking the Ohio River.
      Already dubbed the Great Ohio River Flood of 1997, the raging
waters inundated towns and isolated homes in the hills of central and
northern Kentucky and southern Ohio for nearly a week.
      In some areas, flood waters were the highest in decades--equalling
or surpassing the record floods of 1964--and left dozens dead and
hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Federal and state disaster
declarations were made in West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana
after a visit by Vice President Al Gore to the region.
      Hardest hit by floods was central and northern Kentucky, where
10 to 12 inches of rain fell in the March 1 storm system that raged from
Arkansas to Pennsylvania, spawning deadly tornadoes and flash floods.
The Ohio River flooded from Wheeling, West Virginia, to Cairo,
Illinois, where it joins the Mississippi.
      The death toll was highest in Arkansas, where tornadoes killed
two dozen people and injured more than 200 in the first few hours of the
storm. 
      Emergency grants from the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World
Relief were made to the Dioceses of Arkansas, which received $25,000,
and West Virginia, which received $15,000. Grants to other dioceses
were pending at press time as diocesan staffs assessed their needs.

Kentucky bears brunt of rain
      The sheer volume of water soaking the region and racing down
river was astounding.
      Meteorologists estimated that 44 billion gallons of water fell
during the storm over Pendleton County--only one of the 120 counties
pounded by the storm throughout Kentucky. Hardest hit were small, rural
communities isolated as bridges and roads were flooded or washed out.
      Falmouth, a small town in Pendleton County in the Diocese of
Lexington, was 
inundated by more than 50 feet of water after the flash floods. The city is
nestled in the Licking River valley, which overflowed its banks in a few
hours, sending residents scrambling and trapping others in second floors
or rooftops. About 90 percent of the town's 2,700 residents were
evacuated, officials said. The Licking River drains 70 miles north into
the Ohio River at Cincinnati. Water depth could only be estimated
because most water-depth measuring sticks were entirely under water.
      In central Kentucky, flooding in Lexington closed the diocesan
and cathedral offices, according to diocesan officials. Water in the
cathedral basement and loss of electricity throughout the city forced the
offices to close for the week. Calls were re-routed via a voice-mail
system, with diocesan employees working from their homes.
      "While the state of Kentucky has been hard hit," reported Kay
Collier-Slone, the editor of the diocese's newspaper, The Advocate,
"churches in the Diocese of Lexington appear to have been spared direct
hits."
      The greatest damage in the central Kentucky area seemed to be in
the town of Cynthiana, where "rowboats had been a primary means of
transportation" since the flooding began, she said. The Rev. Jim Winborn
of the Church of Advent in Cynthiana was able to drive into the flooded
community for the first time on Wednesday, and found the church
unharmed.
      In the river cities of Ashland, Covington and Newport, which
have historically borne the brunt of flooding, residents echoed the words
of the receptionist at Calvary, Ashland: "Thank God for flood walls."
      In the Diocese of Kentucky, officials in Louisville reported nearly
40,000 
homes flooded and millions of dollars in damage before the river crested
on March 5. Janet Irwin, editor of the diocesan newspaper Episcopal
News, reported that one church had been damaged.

Southern Ohio swamped
      By mid week, flood waters were racing past Cincinnati's
floodwalls at five-and-a-half miles per hour--carrying an estimated 5.6
million gallons of water per second as the torrent crested more than 12
feet above flood stage at 64.7 feet. Normal depth is 26 feet at Cincinnati,
and flood stage is 52 feet--when the river begins to swallow up low-lying
areas outside of the flood walls. 
      Most of Cincinnati sits on hills, or is protected by flood walls, so
that most residences and churches were protected from the high water.
Some businesses along the river were under four to six feet of brown,
murky, debris-laden water. Whole trees rushed down stream, along with
parts of small buildings and other flotsam.
      About 120 miles upriver in Gallipolis, "We're an island," said the
Rev. John Good from his office at St. Peter's Episcopal Church. He said
that although the downtown was not flooded, all roads in and out of the
river city were flooded or washed out. "You can only get out by a few
back roads over the ridges," he said.
      "It hasn't been this bad since 1937," Good said old-timers
remembered. "If it weren't for the flood control walls and dams, we'd be
under water."
      Good, who serves as the president of the Gallia County outreach
program, said that although the Red Cross and other emergency relief
services were meeting immediate needs, St. Peter's and other
congregations would be collecting a special offering on March 9 to
provide funds for flood assistance.
      "The Red Cross will replace bedding and clothing, and things like
that," Good said, but they won't replace a stove or refrigerator. We do
the things they can't do." While most displaced residents were being
housed in the local high school, Good said St. Peter's could be used if
necessary.
      Throughout the region, most Episcopal Churches were built in the
late 19th century on high ground above flood lines.

Concerted relief effort in Arkansas
      The Rev. Jesse "Buzz" Yarborough, rector of Christ Church,
Little Rock, and president of the Arkansas Interfaith Conference, said
that diocesan relief efforts there were being joined with those of other
faith groups represented by the conference. 
      "There's been an awful lot of pulling together, across the state
and between churches," he said. "The Episcopal churches in the area are
acting as receiving and distribution centers."
      While relief groups need "no more clothes," he said, there is a
need for the basic tools for cleaning up: chainsaws, shovels, brooms,
work gloves, and "people who are willing to work." Victims also need
bedding, baby care products and plastic sheeting.
      In the college town of Arkadelphia, about 70 miles southwest of
Little Rock, tornadoes leveled most of the downtown and killed six
people. "It's unbelievable," Yarborough said. "I've seen solid brick-built
homes where the brick has just been smashed almost in powder. When
the town's rebuilt, it's not going to look like the same community."
      The majority of funds coming from religious judicatories, like the
Presiding Bishop's Fund, "are going to go to directly help the people
who need it most," he said. While federal and other relief agencies are
on hand, the churches often are able to provide immediate assistance "to
help people get over the hurdle."
      In two of the hardest-hit counties, Pulasky and Saline, the Federal
Emergency Management Agency is expected to process 4,000
applications for assistance, he said.
      The state has so far been spared the level of flooding affecting the
more northern states, but Yarborough cautioned, "I don't think we've
seen anything yet. You know what's still on the ground up there in the
Dakotas that hasn't melted yet? If that melts and gets into the rivers, it's
going to be a bad spring."

A sense of community
      In West Virginia, where the diocese sent $14,000 to help with
relief efforts in three particularly flooded towns--Point Pleasant,
Huntington, and Hurricane--the initial response by the Red Cross and
other relief organizations seemed to be well-organized, reported the Rev.
Cheryl Winter of St. Timothy's, Hurricane. "At the first sign of the
flood, they were hauling in tractor-trailer loads of cleaning supplies," she
said. "Our sense is that our help is going to be needed more next week
when food needs are going to get bigger."
      Expecting floods goes with the territory, she said. "It's something
that people are accustomed to, but you don't ever get used to it."
      So does pitching in when the floods do come, she added. "That's
something that's pretty special about West Virginia," she said. "We
know about floods and people really respond from everywhere. That's
the nature of small rural areas. They just take care of each other."
      Folks at All Saints, Portsmouth, Ohio, rolled up their sleeves and
got to work making emergency meals for flood refugees and emergency
workers.
      Many small river towns were ravaged more by flash floods
coming off the hills than by the Ohio River surge. Portsmouth,
surrounded by both the Scioto and Ohio rivers remained high and dry,
protected by flood walls.
      Opening the church kitchen for food preparation and storage of
perishables from other locations, Kelly Alexander--who manages a
delicatessen in downtown Portsmouth--rounded up dozens of friends as
volunteers and made 4,000 servings of hot stew for delivery to Red
Cross and Salvation Army shelter.
      Alexander and her husband, Alex, helped coordinate volunteers
from the First and Second Presbyterian churches, the Roman Catholic
church, the Friends' Society and a synagogue to prepare and deliver the
meals throughout the region.
      Alexander delivered some meals personally to the small town of
Raredon, northwest of Portsmouth. "There was a lot of mud," she said.
"Most homes and businesses had about three feet of mud and water"
inside the buildings. "Yet, when the waters went down, all those folks
got together and they started cleaning each others' homes."
      She paused and reflected, "There are times when you think that a
community's whole sense of community has disappeared. Then
something like this happens and that sense of community comes back.
People of all faiths worked together" to help and clean up after the
floods, Alexander marveled. "That's what church and community is all
about."

Contributions can be marked for disaster relief and sent to:
      The Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief
      c/o Banker's Trust Company
      Box 12043
      Newark, New Jersey, 07101

--Michael Barwell is director of communication for the Diocese of
Southern Ohio. Contributing to this report were Kay Collier-Slone, editor
of The Advocate, newspaper of the Diocese of Lexington, and James H.
Thrall, deputy director of news and information for the Episcopal
Church.