Disaster Response Comprehensive Information

August 30, 2007 Update

 

Volunteer Opportunity in Eastland

The Eastland long-term recovery committee seeks volunteers on Saturday, Sept. 8, to help assess the community’s needs after devastating floods earlier this summer.  Volunteers will meet at 9 a.m. for training and will then go out to neighborhoods in Eastland and Lake Leon to talk with homeowners about their continuing home repair needs. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Bryan Patrick at FUMC Eastland:  254-629-1022 or jbpatrick97@hotmail.com.  Thank you in advance for answering this call to serve!

 

July 18, 2007 Update

Volunteers from the Central Texas Conference have continued to respond to last month’s severe flooding in many communities within our conference and in neighboring conferences.  Teams will be needed for some time to help with rebuilding in communities such as Eastland, Gainesville (North Texas Conference) and Marble Falls (Southwest Texas Conference).  If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Jennifer Bellamy, director of humanitarian services, at jennifer@ctcumc.org, 817-877-5222 or 800-460-8622.

July 2, 2007 Update

  • Granbury:  The Red Cross shelter at FUMC Granbury closed on Saturday, June 30th after being activated for 5 days.  Families were allowed to go back to their homes, but some were again evacuated and are being housed at a local senior citizen center.
  • Ennis:  FUMC Ennis was activated for a voluntary evacuation last week and was on standby from Wednesday through the weekend before being deactivated by the Red Cross.  They did not end up housing any families, but were ready if needed.  Several families in the area were displaced, but according to Red Cross officials, the families were renting homes and have moved to new homes.
  • Eastland:  Eastland sustained severe flooding last Thursday, where 100 to 150 homes were affected.  A shelter has been set up at First Baptist Church, and FUMC Eastland has been designated as a distribution center for supplies.  Volunteers are needed this week to staff the warehouse, located at the church, as well as drive through the community and distribute items such as ice, water, and other supplies.  If you are available to volunteer, please contact Rev. Bryan Patrick at the church.  Early response volunteers will be assisting with cleanup on Saturday, July 7th. 
  • Salado:  Several homes were affected by flooding over the weekend and are being attended to by the community.
  • Outside of the Central Texas Conference:  Two years of rebuilding is anticipated for Gainesville, in the North Texas Conference, which was declared a federal disaster late last week.  Several communities in the Southwest Texas Conference, including Marble Falls and Granite Shoals, were severely affected by flooding.  Volunteers from St. Philip’s UMC, Round Rock, delivered water to a shelter in Marble Falls.  Volunteers from FUMC Round Rock assisted in damage assessment in Granite Shoals. 

 Volunteer teams will be needed in all of these areas for some time to come.  If you would like to volunteer to help the affected communities with recovery efforts, please contact the conference office at 817-877-5222.
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June 28, 2007 Update
FUMC Granbury continues to operate as a Red Cross shelter and is doing well.  Their needs are being met at this time.  They have plenty of volunteers, restaurants have provided food, and Home Depot has donated ample cleanup supplies.  They will contact us as needs arise.

  • A fourth flood gate may be opened up at Possum Kingdom Lake and may thus affect communities along the Brazos River.  We will stand by for any necessary action.
  • FUMC Ennis has begun operation as a Red Cross shelter, as water has overrun a levee on the Trinity River in their community.  Shelter residents began arriving on Thursday afternoon.  The community is well prepared to serve displaced families, but they will let us know about any needs that arise.
  • Several families in Keller were affected by flooding on Wednesday and FUMC Keller is assessing their needs and will let us know what support may be needed from the conference.
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June 27, 2007 Update
After last night’s rain, there have been some incidences in our areas. 

1)       From what I understand, about 50 homes have been affected by flooding in Granbury.  I spoke with someone at FUMC Granbury, where a Red Cross shelter has been running since last night and will continue tonight.  I asked them to let me know about any response needed from us, materials needed, etc, but I have not heard back from them.  They said that the Red Cross and the hospitals were handling everything.  I understand that the Red Cross is feeding displaced families and has set up a shelter, but I did not get any detailed information.  They know that our churches have been collecting flood buckets and will let us know about that need as families are allowed to begin cleanup, as well as other needs.

2)       Bosque County was also affected.  I left a message for the pastor at Meridian UMC, where the main bridge over the Bosque River was under water this morning.  The administrative assistant was not aware of any homes near the area, but said they would take a look and let me know if homes were affected.

3)       Allen Grant let me know that Marble Falls received 18” of rain last night.  I left a message for my counterpart in the Southwest Texas Conference asking her to let me know what their needs are, and I will pass those along to you as I receive information.

4)       We are still waiting on information about specific needs in Haltom City.  The response phase has been strange, due to the fact that folks have been evacuated and will not be cleaning up and returning to their homes that were flooded.  We will continue to let you know about needs for household items and other assistance.

5)       Early response teams are still needed in Gainesville, and rebuilding teams will be needed there beginning in a few weeks.

 Again, we will keep you posted about progress.  We had asked churches to put together flood buckets this week.  We certainly may need them, so please let churches know to keep on keeping on.

Please pray for a break from the rain!

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June 25, 2007 Update
Trained early responders, please let Chuck Graff or Jennifer Coggins know if you would like to put together a team to support the North Texas Conference in its flood recovery efforts in Gainesville.  This request was just put out by the North Texas Conference to the South Central Jurisdiction today, indicating that they could really use some assistance: 
 
 North TX conference requests early response teams right away for Gainesville Texas to muck out homes.  Teams need to report to Rev. Mark Fuller at the First Baptist Church for work assignments. They are doing a pre-assessment on each house to match the teams with the best job. Mark’s number is 1-940-736-7138. The church address is 308 E. Broadway, Gainesville TX. It’s near I-35.
 
 Additionally, we have received some information from the Red Cross about needs in Haltom City that are not limited to early responders.  We are awaiting more exact details, but we hope that the following needs can be addressed:
 a.      Clients vehicles were flooded; the Red Cross is looking for a means to repair or replace vehicles     
 b.      Assistance with household items
 c.      Most clients have finished moving personal belongings out of homes, but some may still need assistance with moving expenses or labor to help with the move.  
 
 If you are interested in helping with any of these needs, either in Haltom City or Gainesville, please contact the conference office at 800-460-8622. 

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June 22, 2007 Update
The Tarrant County VOAD has just met and we now have updated information regarding the flooding situation in Haltom City and surrounding areas.  The immediate need is for volunteers to help residents tomorrow (Saturday) move their belongings out of their homes into trucks.  The trucks will be provided and the household items will be driven to various locations by the residents and those assisting them.  More specific details are available through J.J. Jones, Emergency Management Office of Tarrant County (817-392-6172 work, 817-929-8755 cell).  She will coordinate the locations, work schedules and specific details around the moves.  Please let Jennifer and I know if you are taking a group to serve and coordinate the details through J.J. Jones.  Bret Shisler, 817-874-4321; Bret.w.shisler@worldnet.att.net, district disaster coordinator for the Mid-Cities District and Page Hines, Director of First Street Mission at FUMC, Fort Worth, are also working on the recovery along with Jennifer, and our district coordinators. 

We are still receiving flood buckets at FUMC, Fort Worth, but since many of these residents will be moving permanently from this flood zone, cleaning residences will be more limited than expected. 

 Also, if you have non-perishable food supplies; children, youth and adult clothing; bottled water, toys for children and other items you want to donate, please contact the following agency distributing these items to the site:

 The Christian Center  817-834-5595   (They also need volunteers to help distribute items)

 We also have a team from FUMC Mansfield going to the Gainesville area on Saturday and Sunday.  Please see the information listed below and contact Team Leader, Lee Jones, if you have anyone interested in going this weekend.  If this team fills completely, we will seek to organize another team immediately. 

Gainesville Flood Recovery
Volunteer Information

FUMC Mansfield will be leading teams to Gainesville on Saturday and Sunday. The church address is : 777 N. Walnut Creek Drive, Mansfield, TX 76063

 If you wish to assist with the flood recovery efforts, please read the information below and contact the team leader. 

 Team Leader:  Lee Jones,  leejonesphoto@aol.com,   817-692-8301

 When:  Saturday, June 23 -  7:00am – leave Gainesville at dark 
Meet in front of the Wesley Mission Center on the church parking lot

  • Sunday, June 24 -  9:30am (after the 8:15 service) – leave Gainesville at dark       Meet in front of the Wesley Mission Center on the church parking lot

What to Bring:

  • Boots
  • Gloves
  • Shovel
  • Old broom
  • Rake
  • Bug spray
  • Sack lunch and snacks (We will have bottled water)

 Who: Team members will -

  • Be able to do physically demanding work
  • Refrain from all conduct that may reflect poorly on themselves and the mission team, including consumption of alcoholic beverages, use of illegal drugs, gambling, possession of weapons of any kind, use of tobacco at the work site or host church, or use of profanity or offensive language.
  • Support the mission team leadership.
  • Be a true servant and representative of Christ, Christ’s Church and the United Methodist Church.
  • Be flexible, cooperative and cheerful. 

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June 21, 2007
Due to the widespread flooding in our area June 18th, there are several needs in both our own conference and the North Texas Conference which need our support.  We continue to receive information about needs in Haltom City, where 9 mobile homes were destroyed and 90 damaged.  We have sent volunteers to assist the Red Cross with translation services and have volunteers on call to help provide transportation to storm survivors whose vehicles were destroyed. The North Texas Conference will need the help of trained early responders in Gainesville, where about 200 homes were affected. 

There are several ways you can help.  First, please consider organizing groups in your churches to put together flood buckets, which we can distribute where they are needed during the next week or so.  You may drop flood buckets off at FUMC Fort Worth Monday-Friday 8am-5pm or Sunday 9am-12:30pm.  To obtain the contents of an UMCOR flood bucket, please visit the UMCOR website at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/getconnected/supplies/flood-bucket/. 

Second, you may give financially.  If you would like to give to an advance special, please consider contributing to the general UMCOR Advance #901670, Domestic Disaster Response.  We have also set up a Conference Disaster Response account that will be used for recovery efforts within the conference that may lie outside the bounds of UMCOR assistance.  Please use remittance forms with the designation “CTC Local Disasters”, fund #985, and mail to the lockbox: Central Texas Conference, PO Box 99087, Fort Worth, TX  76199-0087. 

Please do not hesitate to contact Jennifer Coggins, Director of Humanitarian Services at jennifer@ctcumc.org, 817/877-5222, 800/460-8622 or Chuck Graff at cgraff@fumcftw.org, 817/339-5065, CTC Disaster Response coordinator, with any questions or concerns.

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