wfn.org | European floods

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (238
notes).

Note 235 by SUSAN PEEK on July 23, 1997 at 11:28 Eastern (1882 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                              423(10-71B){235}
          New York (212) 870-3803                    July 22, 1997

United Methodists in Europe
assist flood victims there

          by United Methodist News Service

     United Methodist congregations in Poland and the Czech
Republic are assisting families who have lost their homes because
of recent floods.
     According to United Methodist Bishop Heinrich Bolleter,
Central and Southern Europe Area, congregations have collected
clothes, food, drinking water, medication and other supplies for
relief efforts and have assisted the Red Cross with loading and
unloading trucks.
     The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) dispatched a
$5,000 grant for assistance on July 21. Donations can be made to
UMCOR's international disaster fund, Advance No. 982450-8,
earmarked for Eastern European floods.
     In the Czech Republic, the bishop said, one laywoman has
assisted with camps where children have been placed as a safety
measure. The camps house about 30 children each.
     Flooding from the Oder River has inundated the two countries.
In Poland, he added, 50 people have died and another 30 are
missing.
     "Many of the houses are destroyed," Bolleter reported on July
21. "It will take great efforts to cleanse the streets and the
fields. One of the greatest problems is still the lack of drinking
water."
     He also noted that two United Methodist church buildings --
in Wroclaw, Poland, and Ostrava, Czech Republic -- were severely
damaged by flood waters. Whether they will have to be rebuilt can
only be determined after the stone walls have dried, he added.
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