Relief workers see long recovery from hurricane

United Methodist News Service
United Methodist leaders from Louisiana and Mississippi predicted last week that recovery from Hurricane Katrina would take years.
The Category 4 hurricane slammed into Mississippi and Louisiana Aug. 29. Hundreds are known dead in the two states. Massive destruction along the Gulf coast has left tens of thousands homeless.
Louisiana Conference leaders met Sept. 1 with representatives of key religious and relief organizations to coordinate response efforts.
The Louisiana Interchurch Conference discussed with Larry Powell, catastrophe disaster consultant for the United Methodist Committee on Relief, and representatives of Church World Service how the three organizations could support each other during the long recovery.
“In the current situation, we have one of the greatest opportunities to really be the church,” Powell said. He emphasized that the relief committee would bring all its resources to bear in responding to the catastrophe.
Linda Reed Brown, associate director of Church World Service Emergency Response, said, “The initial phase of recovery will be much longer than normal. There is so much that’s unusual for the New Orleans area and in areas along the Gulf Coast.”
Powell added that the unique situation in New Orleans was going to create a secondary cast of victims.
“Although Hurricane Katrina has passed, our problems are not over,” Powell said. “The suffering of victims without resources or homes will continue to grow.”
Both Powell and Brown pointed out that the faith community would need to have a strong presence long after governmental and quasi-governmental agencies have completed their mission.
In Jackson, Miss., Bishop Hope Morgan Ward called district superintendents, disaster relief coordinators, conference staff members and others together Aug. 31 to begin planning for what is expected to be years of recovery work.
Ward told those at the meeting to remember—and to remind local congregations—that “UMCOR is us.”
She emphasized that United Methodists would work through the relief committee in coming months and years to help survivors recover from Katrina.
Ward said all United Methodists could provide three things immediately: prayer, gifts and volunteers.
“Go and do,” she said. “Be creative. Make a commitment with someone you know who has been hurt by this storm.”