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Church helps Louisiana move ahead with recovery

Oct. 21, 2005

NOTE: Photographs are available at http://umns.umc.org.

By Betty Backstrom*

BATON ROUGE, La. (UMNS) - Response efforts in the wake of Hurricane
Katrina are helping United Methodist and government officials write the
manual for handling disasters of such magnitude, according to a church
leader.

"We are still in the relief phase in many of the areas affected by
Hurricane Katrina, while some areas are already moving into recovery,"
said the Rev. Don Cottrill, provost of the denomination's Louisiana
Annual (regional) Conference. He emphasized that damage assessment is
still in progress.

Teams are working with debris and tree removal as well as "mudding out"
homes in the areas surrounding Orleans Parish and sections of southwest
Louisiana affected by Hurricane Rita. Similar efforts in the most
severely affected areas of New Orleans may be hampered due to the
toxicity of the sludge and mold left behind by flood waters.

"We are following the lead of FEMA and the Department of Environmental
Quality in these cases," said the Rev. Darryl Tate, director of the
Louisiana United Methodist Storm Recovery Center.

An estimated 285,127 homes were destroyed statewide during Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita, according to statistics from the Federal Emergency
Management Agency.

"That represents 46 percent of the homes affected by the storms, which
means that almost half of the storm damage resulted in total
destruction," said Gordon Knuckey, field representative for the United
Methodist Committee on Relief.

FEMA officials also reported that an additional 73,707 homes received
major or structural damage, while another 70,346 dwellings sustained
minor damage. "Minor damage is defined as repairs costing above the
deductible that do not prevent the family from moving back into the
home," Knuckey explained.

Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi Aug. 29.
Hurricane Rita followed a few weeks later, striking the coastal region
Sept. 24.

UMCOR representatives have worked closely with the Louisiana Annual
Conference to establish the Storm Recovery Center, housed in the area
offices in Baton Rouge. Requests for assistance and offers of help,
including those from Volunteers in Mission work teams, are funneled
through the center to prevent duplication of effort.

"The compassion expressed by people all over the world has been
incredible," said the Rev. Connie Thomas, volunteer coordinator.
"Monetary gifts, shipments of supplies, work teams and offers to partner
with a specific church have been pouring into the center."

Relief centers are emerging in strategic areas, staffed to help with
long-term recovery. Overall coordinators are responsible for deploying
volunteers, while a construction coordinator at each site is responsible
for projecting needed supplies and tools, along with overseeing the work
done by teams. Every center is staffing a case manager supervisor, who
will recruit and oversee volunteers with the task of case management.

"Persons who have been affected by the storms will receive help
assessing their individual needs and with (getting) in touch with
agencies that can help them," Tate said.

The conference is already operating the Northshore United Methodist
Relief Center at Aldersgate United Methodist Church and the Westbank
United Methodist Relief Center at Aurora United Methodist Church.
Centers in East Jefferson Parish, Orleans Parish and in the Lake Charles
area are also in development.

The Louisiana Conference's seven districts have been asked to design a
proposal for hurricane response. Teams have been formed to draft these
proposals, using $50,000 each as a working budget for their individual
plan.

Cottrill noted the challenge the conference faces in Baton Rouge alone.
"The Baton Rouge District now has the largest city in the state, with a
population of close to 800,000 people," he said. "The United Methodist
Church in Baton Rouge must find a way to address the spiritual as well
as the physical needs of its newest citizens."

Those closest to the situation deal every day with the complicated
nature of responding to Hurricane Katrina. "This is unusual because
there are so many phases going on at one time," Tate said. "It's as if
there are multiple layers that must be peeled off one at a time."

Donations for hurricane relief can be made online at
www.methodistrelief.org and by phone at (800) 554-8583. Checks can be
written to UMCOR, designated for "Hurricanes 2005-Katrina, Advance No.
982523," or "Hurricane Rita, Advance No. 901323," and left in church
offering plates or mailed directly to UMCOR, P.O. Box 9068, New York, NY
10087-9068. Contributions may also be designated for a specific state
affected by the hurricanes.

*Backstrom is editor of Louisiana Now!, the newspaper of the United
Methodist Church's Louisiana Annual Conference.

News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org

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