wfn.org | Typhoon Delays Guam Relief Team

[owner-umethnews@ecunet.org (United Methodist News list)]

Reply-to: owner-umethnews@ecunet.org (United Methodist News list)
"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 (525
notes).

Note 525 by UMNS on Dec. 22, 1997 at 15:38 Eastern (3105 characters).

CONTACT: Thomas S. McAnally			   713(10-71B){525}
         Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470   Dec. 22, 1997

UMCOR stymied by Typhoon Paka’s
devastation in Guam

by Bob Blair*

	An assessment team from the United Methodist Committee on Relief has been
temporarily stymied in attempting to visit Guam because of tremendous
devastation caused by super-Typhoon Paka on Dec. 16.
     Paka’s rampage resulted in the destruction of all radar systems on the
island, closure of the airport and port, total outages of power and water,
plus damage or destruction of all hotels and motels in the U.S. territory,
said the Rev. Gordon Knuckey of Denver, UMCOR U.S. chief of field operations
and training.
	The three-member UMCOR team also will visit the Northern Mariana Islands hit
by three typhoons since November. Both Guam and the Marianas were declared
major disaster areas by President Clinton.
	"We have been able to receive emergency communications from United Methodist
churches on Guam and the Mariana Islands by satellite-assisted e-mail and
telephone, and we are being fed damage figures from the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA)," Knuckey said.
	For now, United Methodist aid is being coordinated by the Rev. Tim Mull in
Guam and the Rev. Barbara Grace Ripple of Saipan in the Marianas.
	Paka has caused 24 injuries but no deaths in Guam. Eleven shelters are
housing about 1,500 residents. Preliminary estimates of damage exceed $100
million.
	At least 3,000 homes were destroyed, and as much as half of Guam’s 31,000
homes have sustained major damage, according to FEMA.
	Anderson Air Force Base and Guam International Airport are open for one
emergency aircraft daily using visual flight rules.
	"If we were there now, we would be a burden to the people who would have to
house and feed us, and they have enough problems without taking care of us,"
Knuckey said.
	"UMCOR has provided $10,000 in emergency funds to Guam and the Mariana
Islands, and through the generosity of United Methodists, we know we will be
able to provide additional disaster assistance."
	Because of the locations of Guam and the Marianas -– about 3,700 miles
west-southwest of Hawaii –- it would not be feasible for UMCOR to provide
donated goods or volunteers from the U.S. mainland, Knuckey said. Aid must be
in the form of cash donations.
	Cash gifts are needed to provide vouchers for food, clothing and other
necessities, Ripple said. 
	"My feelings are those of exhaustion and sadness," she said. "Keeping the
spirits up is a big job. It means a lot to know you are there, that we are in
your prayers and that you care."
	Those wishing to donate to the disaster relief effort should designate gifts
to UMCOR Advance No. 982515-0, "Hurricanes ’97."  Checks may be placed in
United Methodist collection plates or mailed to UMCOR at 475 Riverside Drive,
#330, New York, NY 10115.
     For information on how to donate to UMCOR, call (800)-554-8583.
		#  #  #
	*Blair, Woodstock, Va., is a full-time UMCOR volunteer who is retired from
the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 To make suggestions or give your comments, send a note to 
 umns@ecunet.org or Susan_Peek@ecunet.org

 This article sent to both the umethnews list <umethnews-request@ecunet.org>
 and also to the Worldwide Faith News list wfn-news <majordomo@wfn.org>
 Look at the header files to figure out which this is.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------