wfn.org | Help for Hurricane Fran Victims

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
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Note 377 by UMNS on Oct. 10, 1997 at 15:53 Eastern (5358 characters).

CONTACT:	Ralph E. Baker				  565(10-71B){377}
		Nashville, Tenn.  (615) 742-5470	Oct. 10, 1997

United Methodists help
Hurricane Fran victims

 by Bob Blair*

	WILMINGTON, N.C.  (UMNS)   Fourteen  months after Hurricane Fran smashed
into North Carolina, the disaster- stricken areas are recovering at a
record-breaking pace, thanks  in part to the persistence of United Methodist
volunteers.
A year ago, much of North Carolina looked like a war zone from Wilmington to
Raleigh and then northward.  Today,  the area looks normal and one strains to
find little signs of old storm damage.
Fran brushed the South Carolina coast and then crashed into North Carolina the
evening of Sept. 5, 1996.  Downgraded  from a hurricane, the storm then went
on to create major disasters in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and
Pennsylvania.  Nearly  half  the 37 deaths attributed to the storm  were from
flooding in the inland states.
	Within hours of its hitting the Tar Heel state, the United Methodist
Committee on Relief  (UMCOR) had personnel on the scene from the national
50-member catastrophe team.  They worked with local churches to feed and
shelter victims and establish liaison with federal and state emergency
management officials.
	Bishop Marion M. Edwards of Raleigh Area, who had started his appointment to
the North Carolina Conference just a few days earlier, helped pass out a
semi-truckload of gallon jugs of  spring water to thirsty people with eyes
dampened in appreciation.
	From the beginning, United Methodist pastors reached out to provide pastoral
care and counseling, and special attention was given to the children, some
experiencing continuing nightmares bred by Fran.
	President Clinton expressed concern that the storm would leave emotional
scars, especially on children.
	North Carolina Governor  James B. Hunt, Jr.  called the volunteers "heroes." 
	Edwards said, "Volunteers came from outside our conference to join volunteers
in our conference to help neighbors they  had never seen before but who needed
recovery from Frans destructive visit." 
	Countless United Methodist volunteers took  up chainsaws  and brooms to help
their neighbors clean up after the storm.  In large teams, they roamed from
town to town, block to block, house to house to help people.  One estimate
puts the United Methodist volunteers at more than 5,000 people devoting well
over 100,000 working hours.
	"I think we in the North Carolina Conference are stronger connectionally as
we continue to recover," said Edwards.  "Most recovery agencies have moved on,
but the United Methodist Church is still providing assistance.
	 "Hurricane Fran taught us that United Methodists are connectional," he said.
"UMCOR responded with immediate recovery support.  When visuals of the
destruction reached United Methodist churches across the country, neighbors as
far away as Nebraska, Missouri and Ohio joined neighbors in other areas to
send needed supplies and money to purchase building materials."
	The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)  reports the state and federal
governments have provided $802.5 million to help rebuild North Carolina.
	Although the figures continue to climb, FEMA reports  that so far they have
allocated  the following funds for the other states hit by Fran: $2.9 million
for Maryland; $9.2 million for Pennsylvania; $3.9 million for South Carolina;
$30.2 million for Virginia; and $14.9 million for West Virginia.
	Some disaster victims are not eligible federal assistance, usually the
elderly and handicapped who have little ability to pay back federal disaster
loans.  In
North Carolina, United Methodists found some 2,500 families who fell through
the FEMA safety net and targeted them for assistance.  Each family received
the help it needed, without regard to race, religion, or age.
	Much of the UMCOR assistance continues to be provided  in the form of
rebuilding damaged dwellings by United Methodist volunteer workteams from
throughout the nation.  Approximately half the volunteer workteams are from
the
neighboring Western North Carolina Annual Conference, which rented a large
house in Wilmington for the teams that rotated into the area  each week..
	The workteams have tackled projects from new roofs to repairing a back porch
railings, redoing a bathroom or putting a door back on hinges, as well as
electrical, plumbing, tile, cement and paint work.
	The Rev. Ruth Harper Stevens, superintendent of the Wilmington District,
said, "The only experience I have had  that was more traumatic than our
disaster response was the death of my husband.  Yet at the same time, it has 
been  a joy to receive so many hugs from thankful homeowners.
	"The disaster has strengthened our churches, the district and the
conference," she said.  "People feel better about their denomination."
	She said that her district, comprised of 70 churches with 17,000 members, has
added two new churches and about 2,000 new members.  Collections in the 70
churches have risen 8.6 percent since Hurricane Fran.
	"We are going back to school," she said.  "We are going to study our mistakes
and how we can improve.  We will be better prepared for the next disaster, and
we will have more people who will want to volunteer."
#  #  #
	
	* Blair, Woodstock, Va., is a volunteer with UMCOR.
	

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