storms W
After the
hen Kathy and Nickey Hughes and their three grandchildren emerged from
their storm shelter in Phil Campbell, Ala., after an April 27 tornado, they couldn’t see their house across the street. “Everything was gone. You couldn’t tell where you were, and I’ve been here since I was 16,” she said. “We worked all these years for it and everything is gone. The chil- dren are still having nightmares. It’s horrifying.” Two months later, the family moved into a home rebuilt through a collaborative pilot project funded by the Federal Emergency Manage- ment Agency, Mennonite Disaster Service, Lutheran Ministries of Ala- bama, Lutheran Disaster Response and others. “We all love [our new house],” Hughes said.
Spring and summer storms hit hard in 2011. April tornados that cut a wide path of destruction through Tennessee, Alabama and Geor- gia were followed by an equally destructive May 22 tornado that struck Joplin, Mo. LDR leaders were
Sime, a freelance writer in Carbondale, Ill., is the former director for ELCA World Hunger. Elizabeth Hunter, associate editor, also contrib- uted to this article.
36 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
DARLENE BROOKS
Lutheran Disaster Response volun- teers Jerry Maier (left), Becky Maier, Laureen Burns from Stillwater, Minn., and Bill Brooks from Langdon, N.D., take a break from removing hardwood floors and a bathtub from a flood- damaged house in Burlington, N.D.
Lutheran partners are in Joplin, Mo., and other states for the long haul By Kathryn Sime
still surveying the damage in Joplin when they were called out a month later to provide relief from flooding in Minot, N.D.
When the Minot floodwaters
crested June 26 at 1,562 feet above sea level, it broke a 130-year-old record by nearly 4 feet. It caused more than $2 million combined in uninsured damages to Minot’s Christ, Augustana and First Lutheran churches, as well as Peace Lutheran in Burlington. Nearly 4,000 homes, other ELCA congregations and many businesses were also severely affected by the flooding or seepage.
As the year draws to a close Since the disasters, responders and volunteers have begun helping sur- vivors find a new normal. At presstime, Bonnie Turner, LDR state director for Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota, said many people in Minot are still living in FEMA trailers—and Christmas isn’t even on their radar yet. In December, when they look for Christmas decorations or “try to carry out other traditions, the reality of what they’ve lost will hit again,” Turner said. Volunteer efforts in Minot will help families through winter. “In the
spring we’ll rebuild using skilled and unskilled volunteers,” Turner said. “LDR never works alone. We use many hands, of Lutherans and other denominational partners, to make it happen.”
Through LDR, the ELCA has disbursed more than half a million dollars combined to the Central States, Southeastern and Western North Dakota synods; Lutheran Ministries of Alabama; Lutheran Services of Georgia; Lutheran Fam- ily and Children’s Services of Mis- souri; Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota; Lutheran Services in Tennessee; and Lutheran Family Services of Virginia for recovery efforts.
“Long-term recovery is a mara- thon and not a sprint,” said Ron Tur- ney, Lutheran Ministries of Alabama board president. “Vulnerable popu- lations,” such as elderly or disabled people, those living in poverty and others who may have been uninsured or underinsured, often don’t have the resources to rebuild, he said. Developing strategies for their self- sufficiency is a long-term objective for LMA and LDR. In August, the two organiza- tions held workshops to coach long-term recovery committees and local volunteer groups. Leaders led the groups through what to expect before next spring.
“Now we have to go out and hit the streets and talk with each per- son,” Turney said. “Get construction
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