wfn.org | Winter Hits Dakotas Hard

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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 (3400 notes).

Note 3398 by UMNS on Jan. 28, 1997 at 15:39 Eastern (3948 characters).

SEARCH: North Dakota, South Dakota, UMCOR, storm, blizzard,
disaster
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT: Thomas S. McAnally                       44(10-71B){3398}
         Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470             Jan. 28, 1997

Dakotas in deepfreeze; church, government
leaders evaluating damage, gearing up to help

                        A UMNS News Feature
                          by Tom McAnally

     The thermometer registered 13 below zero in Hurdsfield, N.D.,
Jan. 27 as United Methodist Lou Weckerly responded to a reporter's
telephone call about the weather.
     "In my 40 years in North Dakota I have never seen the snow
blanket the entire state to this depth for this long blocking not
only the rural farm roads but state highways and interstates as
well," she exclaimed.
     The Rev. Richard Fisher, United Methodist Council on
Ministries director for the Dakotas Conference (including both
states) said church leaders in the area are working with UMCOR and
government officials to analyze what can be done. All 53 counties
in North Dakota and all 66 counties in South Dakota have been
declared federal disaster areas. Conditions could get worse this
spring, he said, when the snow and ice melt.
     Fisher said ecumenical meetings are being held in various
areas of the two states to assess the damage and work on possible
responses.  He said churches helped provide a "Seeds of Hope"
program in 1993 when flooding devastated farm crops for two years.
     Weckerly, the church's disaster coordinator in North Dakota,
said she and others are in a "wait and see mode."  Both she and
Fisher said the most critical needs at the moment are on the
several Indian reservations in the two states.  Food and blankets
have been distributed but Weckerly said the increased cost of
heating fuel is a serious problem. "People are using their money
for fuel and can't afford other necessities," she said.
     Some gambling casinos on Indian land have diverted their
income to help with the crisis, Weckerly reported, but that may
hurt education programs that ordinarily receive the money.
     United Methodists are being encouraged to give now to UMCOR's
Domestic Disaster Response fund #901670-1 so that money will be
available when relief efforts begin in the two states.
     The severe winter weather throughout both states has impacted
personal health and safety, commerce, agriculture, wildlife and
state/local financial resources substantially, according to a
report from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency).
     Several deaths have been reported resulting from hypothermia,
heart attacks and delayed ambulance response due to snow.
     Due to the high snow and low temperatures, schools have
closed, business has been restricted, farmers have had difficulty
reaching their livestock to provide food and water, ambulances
have been unable to reach emergencies and major highways have been
closed repeatedly.
     The North Dakota Agriculture Department estimates that the
state's dairy farmers dumped as much as 500,000 pounds of milk
during a nine-day period in January because dairy plants could not
pick up the milk due to impassable roads or poor visibility.
     Businesses in both states are suffering because they have
been closed for extended periods of time.  Hundreds of buildings
have suffered damage from heavy snow and ice.
     FEMA has helped both states clear snow one lane in each
direction along snow emergency routes or select primary roads. 
FEMA opened disaster field offices in both states Jan. 22 to
coordinate federal response efforts.  Officials have been doing
helicopter fly-overs of affected areas to evaluate the blizzard's
impact and have toured some areas to talk to residents.
     
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