wfn.org | Aid follows Hurricane Fran

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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 (3156 notes).

Note 3155 by UMNS on Sept. 9, 1996 at 16:16 Eastern (5176 characters).

SEARCH:   Hurricane, Fran, UMCOR, relief, Wilmington, Raleigh
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

Contact:  Joretta Purdue                         441(10-71B){3155}
          Washington, D.C.  (202) 546-8722           Sept. 9, 1996

Detours do not halt aid for areas
devastated by Hurricane Fran, aftermath

                        A UMNS News Feature
                by Linda Green and Joretta Purdue*

     What Hurricane Fran did not topple, she tried -- and often
succeeded -- to wash out, requiring detours and the use of
ingenuity on the part of relief workers. But United Methodists
from other areas and from the denomination's relief agency are
persevering. 
     As the hurricane plowed northward, after coming ashore near
Wilmington, N.C., the evening of Sept. 5, flooding became a major
problem in parts of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and central
Pennsylvania. Heavy rains also fell as far west as Ohio and as far
east as New Jersey and New York state.
     Three days later, the announced number of fatalities had
reached 26, including two women who drowned in separate incidents
in central Pennsylvania.
     On Sept. 9, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR),
issued an urgent call for more chain saw operators to work in
inland areas of North Carolina.  Several United Methodist teams
are already at work in the hard hit coastal areas.
     United Methodists who are able to respond to this pressing
need are being asked to call the Orange County Emergency Center in
Chapel Hill, N.C., at (919) 814-8765.
     Restoring electric power to parts of North Carolina, where
735,000 people are without it, is expected to take 10 to 14 days,
according to Virginia Miller, who coordinates UMCOR's disaster
response network. In Virginia, where many areas still are
inundated with flood waters, approximately 200,000 people have no
electricity.
     Power was on at the North Carolina Annual (regional)
Conference office in Raleigh, where a major strategy session was
held Sept. 9, but throughout the area many homes and businesses
did not have power. Ice, water and batteries were difficult to
obtain, and neighbors were joining in giant cookouts to use food
that would spoil without refrigeration.
     The conference office had only one telephone line, the
bishop's fax connection, that could be used for outgoing calls.
Awnings were blown off the building, and the satellite dish on the
roof was skewed so that it could not be used. Roof damage resulted
in leaks inside the building.
     North Carolina Conference needs chain saws and quick recovery
teams -- able-bodied people who can make emergency repairs, like
patching a roof, or help a storm victim quickly move their
remaining possessions into alternative housing.
     The 34 North Carolina counties classified as federal disaster
areas account for more than half the 56 counties in the annual
conference and affect 11 districts of the conference, according to
W.L. Norton, conference communication director.
     Four districts that were hardest hit, he said, are
Wilmington, New Bern, Goldsboro and Raleigh.
     Although emergency crews have reopened interstate highways,
state and local roads continue to be a problem, or as Norton put
it, "You have to use detours to get anywhere."
     Virginia Conference, where the areas of Danville, the
Shenandoah Valley and Harpers Ferry, W.Va., were still struggling
with flood waters Sept. 9, a large pickup truck carried a load of
electric generators and power chain saws to Hampstead, N.C.
     An emergency generator had worked all weekend to provide ice,
water and other comforts for Virginia residents at the Powhatan
United Methodist Church there. The central Virginia community lost
power Thursday evening and Friday morning because of the storm.
Without power, people could not access the wells that supply the
community's water.
     The Powhatan church's pastor, the Rev. Gary F. Alvis was one
of four people to accompany the truckload of generators and chain
saws to Hampstead, Va.
     Damage to the hardest hit areas was still being assessed, but
flooding destroyed the kitchen and audio-visual equipment as well
as the new carpeting in the sanctuary at East Waterford (Pa.)
United Methodist Church, where at least 6 feet of water invaded
the church building. Structural damage may also have been done,
but the waters are still receding, preventing a full assessment.
     United Methodists who wish to volunteer assistance to the
devastated areas may call (800) 918-3100 to indicate their
readiness, according to Beverly Bartlett, a UMCOR consultant.
     The agency is continuing to accept donations for use in
relief and recovery. Designation of Hurricanes '96, Advance
Special No. 982410-0 will enable funding this relief effort.
                               # # #

     NOTE TO EDITORS: Photos and additional stories will follow.
     *Green is director of the Nashville office of United
Methodist News Service; Purdue is director of the agency's
Washington office.

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