| Gulf Hurricane Update |
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Breaking News...From the Gulf Coast This week we've been working in east Texas, specifically in the Beaumont/ Bridge City/ Orange areas, where the devastation from Hurricane Ike compares to the damage Katrina did to the Lake Charles, LA area, and just as the damage to Lake Charles was obscured in the media by the more populous New Orleans area, you don't hear much about anything in Texas out side of the Houston-Galveston area, but the damage here is as severe if not more so. By some estimates, in this area of about 200,000 people, fewer than 50 homes survived the storm undamaged. Because the storm hit at high tide, there was a massive storm surge that swept flood waters all over this coastal area, and most homes sat in 2-5 feet of water for an extended period of time--the flood waters would knock down the front door and much of the family's belongings would go floating down the street. Also, because the area was not historically viewed as a flood plain, most people here do not have flood insurance. We have been working with the Bridge City, TX Fire Department and the Area Incident Command to assist First Responders. We are working on a major project to help the residents of this area. In particular there is a church here, called Living Word International Outreach, where the storm severely damaged the church, the parsonage, and the home of the pastor's son, who is an associate pastor at the church. There is a video of some of the damage at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL7UPrIKQ7A  The high water marks can be clearly seen about halfway up the doors on this interior shot of the church. The video also shows water and mud covering the floors in the classroom areas, as well as the worship center. There is a motorhome being sent for temporary quarters for the pastor. In addition, the USECC would like to help coordinate relief efforts for this church and reaching out to the surrounding community. We will be working with the church and community to set up a volunteer center, with crew leaders, work crews, and cooks to feed the crews. For more information on the church that is our project site, the church is: Living Word International Outreach 74003 FM 1006 Orange, TX 77630 www.livingwordio.com Because of the storm , the web site will not be immediately updated with news of this project--for that, stay tuned to www.USECC.net Thank you so much, all who have been faithful in your prayers and your giving. We are going where we believe God would have us to go to help in time of disaster, but this year has been especially taxing on our budget--we try to be frugal with the Lord's money but the cost just to be in the areas so hard hit by these storms runs into thousands of dollars per month, and as you know prices on everything are going up. Perhaps your church or other organization would consider partnering with us by designating a special gift for one or two months out of the year. I would be happy to discuss this popular way of budgeting support--just write me by clicking here. Future details on our project in Bridge City TX will be forthcoming... Until then...I will be... Responding to the Call, Chaplain Steve Earlier Updates... (9/19/2008)  Just a quick update...we are preparing to take a motorhome to the pastor in Texas whose church and home were destroyed. Power is a still a huge issue in the Houston/Galveston area. Some estimates say as many as 50% of the population of Galveston did not evacuate when instructed to--some are still unaccounted for, partially due to the challenges of tracking who ended up in what storm shelter and communicating that information back to a central tracking area where relatives can check for the location of loved ones. Thank you for your faithful giving. You make projects like these possible. If God would lead you to participate financially in a special way this month, because of the multiple disaster relief projects we have been involved with, we are still in need of some additional funding to finish the month. Again, thank you for your faithfulness. Blessings to you...we are... Responding to the Call, Chaplain Steve (9/16/2008)  We rode out Hurricane Ike this past weekend--lots of high winds, but somewhat less rain than anticipated, which is a good thing. I conducted the Sunday morning service inside the firehouse in Houma. A few businesses tried to reopen over the weekend, power was so spotty and unpredicatable that some decided to wait a little longer before opening. Today (Tuesday) most businesses have reopened. Power is still an issue, though. We have been told that just in Terrebonne and LaFourche Parishes southwest of New Orleans, over 1600 power poles are down. Hundreds of power crews from all over have descended on the area to help with the recovery. I went out on quite a few fire and rescue calls mostly from fire alarms going off when the power returned and a few minor fires caused by the initial surge of power returning. We did attend to several small breeches in levees keeping back the waters from the inner city canals. All were repaired without any major flooding. Many roads are flooded however--one drive that normally takes about 45 minutes took 2 1/2 hours. In the outlying areas, quite a few people were displaced, but in the city things were not as bad. We are headed for Bridge City, Texas in the Orange/Beaumont area of far east Texas, where the storm destroyed a church and parsonage. I will keep you updated as time and accessibility permits. (9/12/2008)  Sunday 9/7 - We left Greensburg, KS, which was the site of this year's USECC 9-11 outreach, bound for the Gulf Coast where Hurrican Gustav had landed at almost the same spot where the devastating Hurricane Katrina rolled ashore in 2005, and Hurricane Ike was tracking right behind into the Gulf of Mexico.On Monday and Tuesday of this week (9/8 and 9/9) we were in Houma, LA with the Bayou Cane Fire Department, securing food and supplies for three different churches in the area that will serve as distribution points. We have been staying in the firehouse rather than the churches themselves because the firehouse is a more secure location in which to weather the storm, and because the communications centers at firehouses provide updates from government agencies and other information. Wednesday 9/10 -- We worked in the supplies distribution centers and, since thousands of people were still without power, we assisted on fire runs to investigate reports of fires and electrical complications that arise as power is restored to various areas. Sometimes the power surge that occurs on power restoration causes electrical and electronic devices to start smoking. We also worked with fire and rescue units doing “welfare checks” – driving out and accounting for people whose families have not been able to contact them. Thankfully there have been no fatalities discovered since last week. Wednesday was a very hectic day as we also attended the daily hurricane briefing and saw the first outer bands of Hurricane Ike start to roll through. We’ve been helping to re-secure buildings in preparation for this second wave of hurricane activity. Thursday 9/11—At 8 AM, government offices opened to provide needed help to people on public assistance, such as food stamps, extended assistance checks, etc. Some people had been waiting in line since 3:30 PM on Wednesday to receive help. We also went on more fire and rescue runs. In the afternoon we hit a dissappointing obstacle--one of the churches in the far south of Louisiana which was to serve as a distribution point for supplies was damaged by Gustav, and there was not time to drive down there, set up a temporary shelter for supplies and get back before Ike's high winds would make the trip too dangerous. About ten minutes after calling the pastor with the regretful decision to forego deliveriung supplies there, it was verified that water was already over the road to the area and the truck would not have made it through it they had decided to go. Thursday night we went out into a bayou where there was a report of a levee break. Upon arrival, we discovered the report to be accurate, but the breach was minor and we were able to patch the levee before any major damage was done. Until next time, we are… Responding to the Call, Chaplain Steve. (9/1/2008) Hurricane Gustav Call To Action Extremely dangerous" storm surges battered the Louisiana coastline as Gustav rolled ashore around 10 AM CDT on Monday. The USECC is currently on the scene offering assistance. Here is an update provided by Chaplain Steve this afternoon...  The US Emergency Chaplains Corps has been in contact with officials in the gulf and will be responding to the disaster and aftermath. USECC, like so many other orgainzations needs your financial assistance at once. We will be assisting First Responder agencies just like we did in Hurricanes Katrina and Rita three years ago. Immediate assistance is needed as will mid to long range assistance (through the end of the year) is also expected because of the length of the incident. Please remember that all donations given to USECC are tax deductable. You may structure your gifts to span over the next few months as well.
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