Category Archives: Disaster
Message from Joplin
The last three weeks in Joplin have been a combination of overwhelming and amazing, a combination of horrible and wonderful. These have been weeks filled with high levels of anxiety but also great amounts of love and compassion.
As a lifelong Disciple I have always been proud of our little denomination, but in these last three weeks that has simply multiplied. Your prayers, your donations, your calls and emails, your trips to Joplin to lend a helping hand have reminded us of the significant family ties among those of us who call ourselves Disciples.
Over the coming months we will continue to work with the Area Office to keep you updated on the progress here in Joplin and the ways you can help. As we continue on this journey together and as you seek to find ways to reach out, let me share a few thoughts:
- We will always say yes to your love and kindness, but sometimes we will need to say no to the ways you are offering to show it. Please remember the difference.
- Things change nearly every day. What that means is that we ask your patience. For instance, if you are wanting to come volunteer next month we won’t be able to tell you what sorts of jobs are available until much closer to the time.
- Your prayers really do matter. When you pray for Joplin, you are doing something important. Never feel like prayer isn’t enough.
- Week of Compassion does wonderful work. Please remember this not only in crisis, but each year as we take routine offerings.
- We are overwhelmed, sometimes even by the kindness of the broader Church. What this means is that sometimes it takes a while to return calls or emails. Sometimes we simply forget. Again, remember your care is appreciated even when we forget to acknowledge it.
- The Area Office is a great resource and can answer many of your questions. Jeni has been wonderful and stays in close contact with us. Although we don’t want to inadvertently overwhelm her, do remember that she is available, too.
More information will be coming next week about the progress that’s being made here in Joplin as well as more ways you can reach out in care to those who were affected.
Meanwhile, Mary Lin (director of the Distribution Center at First Christian) let Jeni know today that we could use the following items: Bath towels, mops, cleaning supplies, glass cleaner, laundry detergent, laundry baskets, and Depends pads (not pull ups). We are overwhelmed with water and clothing, so please do not bring more of those items.
Thank you for being the body of Christ with us!
Rev. Jill Cameron Michel
South Joplin Christian Church
Guiding Principles of a Faithful Disaster Response (part 4)
Still, these questions remain: What do you need? How can we help? Whether the answers to these questions are readily forthcoming or are simply unclear, four guiding principles can direct our individual and collective response (with apologies for the para-phrasing of others’ advice): Prepare. Care. Share. Be in prayer.
The Long Road of Disaster Recovery (part 3)
Recovering from a disaster does not happen overnight. It is not completed in a few days, weeks, or even months. Recovery takes time. It is hard to balance people’s immediate needs with their long term needs which will surface in the days and weeks and months ahead. It is likewise difficult to balance the passion with which people outside of an impact zone want to help (now!) with the fact that this help is generally more important many months from now. It is hard to ask people with needs and those who want to help to be patient, just as it is hard to hear this word. Yet we must find ways of pacing ourselves. Responders burn out quickly. Clergy burn out in communities hit by disaster is especially high; informal surveys place the number of clergy who leave their church following a disaster at more than 50% within the first three years. It typically takes 3 months for a community recovery effort to be fully implemented (consider recent flooding along the Mississippi River, which in some places will not even subside for more than a month). Then it is no less than 1 year – and for disasters of the magnitude of recent tornadoes, probably 2-3 years – for the recovery to conclude. It is never completed. This is a marathon, no way around it.
Disciples Volunteering represents the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in our programmatic response to disaster. We support the local recovery as it unfolds by matching resources to identified needs. Sometimes, that means structuring our own response through a congregational Mission Station. Other times, it means channeling resources through ecumenical partnerships. Our greatest resources are the congregationally based mission teams that answer the call to serve and our long term Servant Leadership Team. Other resources exist and as those offers of support are received we do our best to match them to identified needs.
As responses to recent disasters come together, from North Carolina to Washington and many places in between, Disciples Volunteering will extend the call to Get Dirty for Jesus and partner in the long mission of disaster recovery. Thank you for hanging in there with the people who are recovering from disaster. Disciples are only able to be present and bring hope, healing, and a hand because of the vision, patience, and compassion of individuals and congregations to serve in mission for as long as there is need.
Help in the Face of Disaster (part 2)
In the face of an unprecedented string of natural disasters, the outpouring of support remains tremendous. Figuring out how to help, however, is sometimes a challenge. The first question to ask is, “What do you need?” This is followed by, “How can we help?” When disaster strikes, critical needs are generally identified and addressed on the spot. The impacted community and its closest neighbors band together to do whatever needs done, with outside support as it arrives. Longstanding relief operations, such as the shelters and feeding programs run by the Red Cross, spring into action. Triage happens on the fly. Offers of specific, immediate support are hard to process because for days, sometimes weeks, needs change rapidly.
That is why the greatest help that can be provided immediately following a disaster is the gift of money. Faithful giving to Week of Compassion’s Compassion Response Fund enables the whole Church to be flexibly present however that presence is needed: immediate solidarity grants fill gaps and provide temporary housing, meals, and clothing; they support relief efforts so that critical needs are tended to when they arise; and they reassure people that the Church is standing with them.
Not All Help is Helpful (Part 1)
From April 25-28, an estimated 305 tornadoes touched down in the U.S., more than any three day period on record (surveys are still confirming the exact number). On April 26-27, in one 24 hour period, 190 tornadoes touched down, setting the record for the largest outbreak of tornadoes in a single day (map here). The previous record for multi-day outbreak from a single storm system was set just two weeks earlier, when 155 tornadoes touched down. Together, these storms left communities in ruins and claimed more than 350 lives.
When disasters of this magnitude take place, people swing into action. Most all of it is good intentioned. People want to help. But sometimes our actions can make the situation worse. This kind of usually well intentioned but ultimately problematic behavior takes two basic forms: donating items that are not useful or showing up to help without being completely self-sufficient.
Every disaster spawns its share of stories about, again, usually well intentioned people who ultimately exacerbate the problem they thought they were helping. The Associated Press ran one such story yesterday, describing the mountains of junk items and dirty clothes that people have sent. It takes an incredible amount of time and energy to sort through such donations. In these circumstances, a little bit of common sense would go a long way. Giving to 
disaster victims is not an excuse to clean out a closet or garage or storage unit without any consideration for what people truly need. (A three foot Santa? Really?) The problem is not limited to dirty underwear or backyard junk. People also send medicine of all kinds: expired prescriptions, bottles of mixed pills, and even bottles with no labels to identify the drug.
The other common “second disaster” or “disaster within a disaster” that happens is when people show up without a clear plan for helping others and without making sure their own needs are met. It’s bad enough when people in the community are suddenly homeless and need a place to stay, food to eat, and time to sort things out. But when out of town help shows up and needs food, water, gas for their vehicle, and a place to sleep, that increases the strain on what is obviously an already stretched infrastructure. Sleeping in your car is
not a good idea in a community that is now very attractive to criminals, and not tolerated when a curfew is likely to be in place. This is not to say that people don’t appreciate spontaneous volunteers (they do) or that there isn’t work to be done (there is). But imagine if a hundred people showed up in the same small town to help. Now imagine if a thousand people did. It was recently reported that in one small town, the people who just “showed up” to help actually outnumbered the town’s residents. Obviously, people had to be turned away. Even some that stayed felt unneeded or unappreciated.
This isn’t to say that goods aren’t needed. It isn’t to say that help isn’t needed. Before you dive into the back of your closet, however, or jump in your car and start driving, ask yourself: Whose needs am I really trying to meet? Then ask: What do the people facing this disaster really need?
Four easy actions sum up the steps of an appropriate response: Prepare. Care. Share. And be in prayer. These will be described in a follow-up post.
(*The pictures accompanying this post were taken during a recent visit with affected communities; the sign asking for no more clothes comes from the warehouse in Eclectic, AL, whose mayor is quoted in the AP article.)
Fire & Floods
According to one report, Tropical Storm Hermine may have been a record setter as it sustained tropical storm strength winds for about 24 hours. Hermine did drop to a Tropical Depression last night and will likely remain so for until sometimes Thursday evening. Today, it has the potential to drop a high volume of rain on parts of Oklahoma before sweeping into Kansas and northwest Missouri on Wednesday. In its path, Hermine left tens of thousands of people without power, including more than 95,000 in and around San Antonio. Flooding is still a danger in many areas, as witnessed by the recent mandatory evacuation ordered for 800-1,000 homes in New Braunfels, TX. Water levels in many rivers and creeks are still rising and it is unclear when they will crest.
Meanwhile, Detroit, Michigan and communities around Boulder, Colorado, are experiencing a different kind of severe weather. High winds reaching 50 mph knocked down power lines yesterday (often by snapping dead tree limbs onto them) and started fires across Detroit. Nearly 100 fires were reported. At one point, 65-70 fire companies were actively working to extinguish the flames.
Image via Wikipedia
In Colorado, a wildfire of unknown origin has been raging since Monday. A state of emergency has been declared as more than 3,000 people have evacuated their homes. No injuries have yet been reported and it is unclear how many homes have been destroyed; however, the fire is still raging near Boulder as people anxiously await word on their homes and property – and information on where it may spread next. (You might be surprised to learn, by the way, that there have been more than 1,300 wildfires in the country already this year, with dozens currently active.)
Related Articles
- High winds fuel wildfires in Colorado, Oklahoma (cnn.com)
- Boulder Wildfire Destroys Buildings; No Injuries Reported (huffingtonpost.com)
- Colorado Wildfires Seen From Space (livescience.com)
- High winds fuel fires across Detroit (msnbc.msn.com)
Hermine Won’t Go Quietly
Thankfully, Tropical Storm Hermine didn’t have much time or distance to grow in size as it moved from the Gulf on to land. It took a steep northern route, making landfall in northeastern Mexico before sweeping into the southernmost tip of Texas. Wind gusts of nearly 70 mph have been recorded, and there are already reports of flooding, roofs ripped off buildings, and injuries from flying debris (via this interactive map). Several thousand people are also without power, including at least two entire communities. The threat of tornadoes spawned by Hermine will persist throughout the day, while flood watches are in effect for at least the next 24 hours and extend through Texas into Oklahoma. Hermine is expected to dump 4-8 inches in many places, and up to 12 in some. Kansas, northwestern Arkansas, and Missouri could all see high levels of rain, as well, as Hermine makes its way north.
