Lutherans Responded to 30 Weather Disasters in 1998

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Lutheran Disaster Response, a ministry of the = Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and The Lutheran Church-Misso= uri Synod (LCMS), responded to 30 weather disasters in the United States, = Caribbean and Guam in 1998, said the Rev. Gilbert B. Furst, director. =20
The number of disasters for 1998 is "the highest annual total in = our ten-year history," Furst said. Lutheran Disaster Response responded = to 27 disasters in 1996 and 15 in 1997.=20
Response to a disaster is often characterized by the support of a = local response team, providing emergency supplies, offering pastoral care = and counseling, coordinating volunteer efforts in relief and rebuilding, = and providing grants to victims. This response is coordinated with other = interfaith and community efforts. =09
"Finances also present a major challenge for the church to serve = well," said Furst. "As of Nov. 1, 1998, income for domestic disaster = response is less than 40 percent than it was during the same period in the = previous year."
"We are still responding to the 1997 blizzards and floods in the = upper Midwest, and we are now beginning major new response efforts in = Puerto Rico and Texas," said Furst. =20
Hurricane Georges tore across Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands = before making its way through the rest of the Caribbean and to the Gulf = Coast states in late September. Flood waters from three major rivers in = southeastern Texas caused significant damage to homes, churches and = businesses in October.
Lutheran Disaster Response personnel are also reacting to flash = floods that swept through 13 counties in south-central Kansas in November. = =20
"In Arkansas City, Kan., a rain-swollen river broke through a = levee, flooding 300 homes," said Furst. "In Butler County -- mostly the = town of Augusta -- more than 1,000 homes were affected. Due to the flash = floods, most affected houses had major damage or were destroyed." The = Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reported that flooding in some = areas was more severe than the devastating floods of 1993, said Furst.
Congregations of the ELCA and LCMS have organized cleaning crews, = opened emergency shelters and served hundreds of meals. Resources for = children were distributed, Furst said. "Most of the survivors are = low-income or elderly persons. Many are at risk mentally, emotionally and = physically."
The flash floods occurred Oct. 30-Nov. 3. "Twelve of the 13 = counties have now received federal disaster declarations," said Christine = Iverson, Atchison, Kan., local coordinator for Lutheran Disaster = Response.=20
About 140 miles north of Sioux Falls, S.D., a system of expanding = lakes and emerging groundwater pools from the Blue-Dog-Rush-Waubay Lake = Basin is causing flooding and the loss of thousands of acres of farmland.
"The waters are consuming the life and economy of Day County, = S.D.," said Johanna Olson, assistant for Lutheran Disaster Response. "Of = the 700,000 acres of tillable land, 300,000 acres are under water. The = communities of Webster, Grenville and Waubay have lost $7 million in = farming revenue for 1998. Since 1993, it is estimated that farmers have = endured a crop loss valued between $15 and $25 million."
According to Olson, the economic impact upon these communities = continues to compound. "Crop loss means less work at the grain mill. It = means less being bought and fewer bills being paid at the hardware, lumber = and grocery stores. Loans loom larger at the bank."
"This also means a significant revenue loss for the county = government, slowly leaving it incapable of dealing with the crisis," she = said. =20
On Jan. 1, 1999, Day County no longer had county ambulance = service, nutrition programs, services for the handicapped or an extension = service office. The county can no longer afford these programs because it = is not receiving sufficient income to sustain them, in addition to = constantly maintaining and building up main roads, Olson said.
"We come to the end of a tumultuous year of worldwide and domestic = disasters," said Olson. "We are astonished by disasters' immediate = devastation, but rarely do we see or hear of their long-term effects. It = is the church's role not only to commit to long-term response, but to = remind people throughout the country to be committed as well. 'Out of = media' sight should not mean 'out of mind.'
"We need to let survivors of disasters know they are not forgotten,= " Olson added. "People must know they can help and can provide assurance = for survivors, through the compassion of their faith."

DOMESTIC DISASTERS:

Editors: When listing organizations receiving funds for aid to survivors =
of major disasters inside the United States, Puerto Rico or the U.S. =
Virgin Islands, please include:

Lutheran Disaster Response
P.O. Box 71764
Chicago, IL 60694-1764
800-638-3522

For information contact:
Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Director 1-773-380-2955 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html