wfn.org | CWS Responds to Storms and Floods

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org (CAROL FOUKE)]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the
U.S.A.
Contact: Wendy S. McDowell, NCC, 212-870-2227

38NCC4/21/98       FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Internet: news@ncccusa.org

****************************************************
EDITORS: When listing organizations receiving funds
for humanitarian response to 1998 Spring storms and
floods, please include:

CHURCH WORLD SERVICE, Attn. 1998 Spring Storms and
Floods, #976230, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515.
Phone pledges or credit card donations: 1-800-762-
0968.

CWS works in more than 70 countries, including the
U.S., in disaster relief, human development and
refugee assistance.  It is a ministry of the
National Council of Churches, the nation's
preeminent ecumenical organization which includes 34
Protestant and Orthodox member communions with a
combined membership of nearly 52 million.
****************************************************

CWS RESPONDS TO "MARCH MADNESS" AND RECENT U.S.
STORMS AND FLOODS

 NEW YORK, NY, April 21 ---- Church World
Service (CWS) disaster response consultants are
developing a faith-based response to an unusally
concentrated and deadly wave of storms, floods and
tornadoes that have struck communities in the South
and Midwest.  Since February, more than 100 people
have been killed in storm-related damage in nine
southern states.

CWS is seeking $150,000 from its member
communions to organize interfaith responses and to
support a wide range of recovery efforts underway
throughout the United States following "the worst
series of spring storms in over 28 years," said Mr.
Rick Augsburger, CWS Emergency Response Director.
CWS is continuing to concentrate on unmet needs in
low-income areas, and also is requesting that
congregations assemble "Gifts of the Heart" clean-up
and health kits.

"It has already been a very intense spring, and
the wide range of this appeal shows that," Mr.
Augsburger explained.  "Cooperation among faith-
based organizations responding to the disasters will
be critical.  This onslaught of repeated disasters
will require tremendous volunteer and financial
resources to assist those who are most vulnerable."

CWS appealed for $100,000 following the patch
of "March madness" - early spring tornadoes, floods
and storms that cut a swath of destruction
throughout the Midwest and South, then raised it to
$150,000 on April 17 after two more waves of
tornadoes and storms in as many weeks hit Alabama,
Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee.  The
single worst incident occurred outside of
Birmingham, AL, where 33 people were killed on April
8.  Some 500 buildings were damaged in downtown
Nashville.

The most serious destruction during the March
storms occurred in south-central Minnesota, where
four counties were hit by tornadoes March 29.
Flooding also has been an ongoing problem this
spring in Georgia and was particularly dire in
Albany, Ga. in early March, marking the second time
the Flint River has inundated the community in the
last five years.  Most of the flooded homes in 1993
were in low-income areas and few owners were able to
maintain flood insurance.

In the CWS response, "we are very proud of the
solid work of our volunteer disaster consultants,
some of whom have had to juggle multiple disasters
at once," Mr. Augsburger said.

A summary of recent CWS activity in the affected
regions includes:

  Charles Moeller, CWS/FEMA Region IV Disaster
Response Facilitator, Lutheran Disaster Response,
is assessing the scope of damage in the Nashville
area through local religious community contacts.
  Moeller is visiting Alabama to begin working with
United Methodist Church (UMC) leaders and FEMA
voluntary agency liaison Harry Noftseker to pull
together faith groups that have expressed interest
in developing a cooperative recovery program.
UMC's Mike Harper [(205) 226-7955] has been laying
the groundwork for Moeller since the tornadoes
struck last week.
  Working with the Church of the Brethren (COB), CWS
will be sending a large quantity of school kits to
Alabama based on COB recommendations following an
upcoming assessment.
  CWS West Virginia-based DRC Clark Peloubet of the
United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has
been assessing needs in northern Georgia and
reports that local churches have developed strong
independent disaster response programs but are
working cooperatively to avoid duplication of
efforts.
  At Gainesville, GA, Kentucky CWS volunteer
Disaster Consultant Roger Newell, with UMCOR,
helped organize a cooperative faith-based
community program to advocate on behalf of
residents of a mobile home park destroyed by a
tornado.
  In Illinois, the Illinois Council of Churches is
spearheading efforts to raise $40,000 to assist in
the repair of houses in the affected communities
of Mattoon and Bath, reports CWS Disaster Resource
Consultant Nancy Tegtmeier, who has been assessing
damage in central Illinois. CWS will send seed
money for the effort.
  Meanwhile, a faith-based community organization in
south-central Minnesota is being formed in the
wake of late March tornadoes, reports CWS/FEMA
Region V Regional Facilitator Ellis Wykstra of the
Christian Reformed World Relief Committee. The
interfaith will be located in the Le Center-St.
Peter area.  Wykstra has been working with CWS
Disaster Resource Consultant Josie Gonzalez of the
Minnesota Council of Churches.

Financially CWS has sent:

  $5,000 to help form the Rockingham County
Interfaith in Rockingham County, NC, following
tornadoes there in March. CWS also sent 300
cleanup kits to Rockingham County.
  $2,000 to the Hopewell United Methodist Church in
Gainesville, GA, for the emerging interchurch
flood recovery program there.
  $5,000 to the Wire Grass Interfaith Committee for
ecumenical development in Elba, AL, for response
to flooding there last month.
  $5,000 to United Methodist Flood Recovery in
Albany, GA, which is working in a consortium with
Lutheran and Roman Catholic Organizations.

CWS CONTACTS:
  Gonzalez can be reached at (218) 299-4556 (O),
(218)-299-4560 (FAX) e-mail: gonzalez@rrnet.com
  Levin can be reached at (919)-746-3852 (H), (800)-
910-7655 (O), (919)-746-8613 (FAX), e-mail:
ncidrc@coastalnet.com
  Moeller can be reached at (704)-433-8142 (H),
(704)-439-1914 (Cellular), (888)-300-4425 (Pager),
(704)-433-9883 (FAX) e-mail: LDRcfm@vistatech.net
  Newell can be reached at (502) 447-7322
  Peloubet can be reached at (304)-445-2833, (304)-
445-7814, e-mail: clark_peloubet@ecunet.org
  Tegtmeier can be reached at (217)-563-2043 (H),
(217)-544-3423 (O), (217)-544-9307 (FAX)
  Wykstra can be reached at (616)-672-5390 (H),
(616)-246-0738 (O), (616)-224-0806 (FAX), (800)-
776-1960 (Pager) e-mail: wykstrae@crcna.org
-end-
 -0-