Sarah Williams of LSS Disaster Response (LSSDR) has been on the scene and working in West, Texas, following the disastrous explosion of April 18. We appreciate Sarah for her ongoing work in the trenches in West, and for keeping us informed with the following report and update:

Thus far, LSS Disaster Response and St. Vincent De Paul combined have given out $8,400, serving 117 families and 330 individuals total. Forty of these families are unemployed as a result of the disaster, and a high percentage of the single-member households assisted are elderly.

As the numbers probably indicate, we’ve been quite busy for the past couple of days! Yesterday and today have slowed down a little bit, and the type of survivor coming in to the Joint Assistance Center (JAC) has changed drastically. The majority of the people seeking assistance currently seem to be those with injuries, or injured or deceased family members who haven’t been able to make it to the JAC [where LSSDR personnel are established] until now. In addition to providing monetary aid, we have also been called to offer more emotional and spiritual support than in past days, as survivors have been particularly distraught and hurting. We’ve sat down with many survivors, listening to them as they try to work through what they’re feeling right now – and address their grief. We’ve had several come back day after day, just to talk.

Quite unexpectedly, the nurses who worked at West Haven Nursing Home have also been very upset, and we’ve referred several to counseling and psychological services. Of those, many appear to be experiencing symptoms similar to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from the evacuation of the nursing home during the fire, in addition to injuries sustained at the same time. They’re also very heartbroken about losing their residents, and many have been driving to Waco and other nursing facilities to visit their residents and check on them. I’m very moved and humbled to witness such love and compassion, and I believe the nurses when they say that at West Haven they were a family.

Note about Volunteers:
Americorps is now coordinating volunteer opportunities. They have already identified people in the community to be ready to enlist help when the time is right. The website for people to sign up to volunteer is volunteertx.org.

LSSDR, along with St. Vincent de Paul, and David Ricks from Beautiful Savior Lutheran church in Arlington, TX are providing gift cards to survivors to help cover unexpected expenses. So far, $6,000 in gift cards have been distributed. Perhaps the most urgent need is for housing for the displaced. There are no available shelters in the area, so other than hotels, there are few other housing options. We are working with our partners to put together a hotel voucher system. Your donations towards these efforts are urgently needed.

Sarah reported one heroic effort we have not seen in media reports. When word of the fire broke out, some of the off-duty nurses from the nursing home that was demolished by the explosion went to the facility and were able to help evacuate all of the residents from the building prior to the blast. Some of the employees were injured in the explosion but every nursing home resident survived.

In addition to the dozens of homes that were destroyed, approximately 130 employees of the nursing home are now out of work. Many of them were low wage earners. Texas Workforce Commission representatives are on site helping the affected with the process but unemployment benefits typically take several weeks to begin, leaving many without income for the next few weeks. Donation dollars are also needed to help these folks out with immediate needs.

We fielded several calls over the weekend from people interested in volunteering to help out with whatever needs to be done. At this point, there has not been a general call out for volunteers at the scene. That may change at some point and if it does, we will provide more information. For now, your prayers, your financial contributions and your donated blood are still urgently needed.

While Hurricane Katrina touched the hearts of Americans across the country, Isaac seems to have quickly fallen off the national radar. With Isaac no longer part of the nightly news cycle, those impacted can be easily forgotten. LSS will not let that happen! Our services to Louisiana residents continue as we work side-by-side with our government and faith-based partners.

It will take months for some and years for most to help survivors recover. Lutheran Social Services Disaster Response (LSSDR) remains committed to helping meet the unmet needs of those impacted, as well as aiding in the long-term recovery efforts of the communities that suffered the greatest damage, such as hard-hit Plaquemines Parish.

Please continue to keep Louisiana’s affected residents and responders in your prayers, and consider helping Isaac’s survivors with a donation that will allow us to continue responding to changing needs and reaching out to those who have suffered loss and destruction.

(Times-Picayune)

Now that Hurricane Isaac has been downgraded to a tropical depression, we are getting a clearer picture of what has been left in its wake.

We know that the slow-moving storm has flooded stretches of the state – in suburbs like LaPlace and Slidell Louisiana, where some families who had moved from New Orleans after Katrina found they had escaped one flood zone only to find another.

Flash flooding caused the evacuation of residents in several suburban neighborhoods that were left underwater after Isaac dumped up to 16 inches of rain. Some 500 people had to be rescued by boat or high-water vehicles, and the storm cut power to about 47 per cent of the state. That was down to 39 percent by Thursday evening, according to the Public Service Commission.

In Plaquemines Parish, crews intentionally breached a levee that was strained by Isaac’s floodwaters.  Tens of thousands of residents in Tangipahoa Parish were ordered to leave because of fears that a dam might fail.

It will be a few days before the water in these flooded areas recedes and people can return home. New Orleans itself was spared, thanks to new floodgates, super-sized levees and powerful pumps that did exactly what they were supposed to do.

What Now?

A message to volunteers from the Dept. of Homeland Security Center of the White House Office of Faith-based & Neighborhood Partnerships, has stressed that to “prevent unsolicited donations and spontaneous unaffiliated volunteers from overwhelming communities affected by Hurricane Isaac,” financial contributions to agencies to purchase needed items is the best way to help. They emphasized that collecting goods (such as clothing, household items, and food) is best handled by well-funded voluntary agencies and not through the expensive process of collecting, sorting, packaging, transporting, receiving, etc.

LSSDR remains committed to helping meet the immediate unmet needs of the displaced residents as they become known, as well as aiding in the long-term recovery efforts of the communities that suffered the greatest damage. We will work side-by-side with our government agency and other faith-based partners as we proceed.

Please continue to keep Louisiana’s affected residents and responders in your prayers, and consider helping Isaac’s survivors with an online donation that will allow us to respond quickly to changing needs and reach out to those who have suffered loss and destruction. If you would like additional information about LSSDR’s disaster relief operations, please go to our website, www.lssdisasterresponse.org.

Across the region, schools and government offices have closed, hospitals and nursing homes have been evacuated, and some entire towns have been told to leave for higher ground. Serious flooding and widespread power outages from downed power lines are occurring along the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts. Many Louisiana residents of the low-lying coast left boarded-up homes; others in and around New Orleans are hunkered down, trusting in a strengthened levee system that failed famously under Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the area seven years ago to the day.

Search and rescue teams have been mobilized and Louisiana officials have asked trained and authorized teams from Texas and six other states to be on standby. Lutheran Social Services Disaster Response (LSSDR) will play a key role in disaster response, as we have during Hurricanes Ike, Rita, and of course Katrina. Once again, LSSDR is committed to helping meet the immediate unmet needs as they become known, and to serving the affected communities working with our government agency and other faith-based partners over the “long haul,” however prolonged that turns out to be.

We have already received many calls and emails from individuals and churches asking, “How can I help?”

At this time, we ask our supporters to keep affected residents and responders in their prayers as we begin to learn the extent of the impact. I would also like to ask you to join me and LSS in preparing to help these survivors, with an online donation that will allow us to respond quickly to changing needs and reach out to those who will suffer loss and destruction. If you would like additional information about LSSDR’s disaster relief operations, please go to our website, www.lssdisasterresponse.org.

Right now we are addressing the immediate, emergency needs for food, shelter, and clothing of affected individuals and families. “Our past experience with survivors of natural disasters has proven time and again that financial assistance to cover these immediate living expenses is the best way we can help,” said Mark Minick, LSS senior vice president for Disaster Response. “Additionally, we are asking for your prayers for the families whose lives have been devastated.”

LSSDR is grateful for any financial assistance to support these relief efforts at this time. The quickest and easiest avenue is to make on online donation to LSS Disaster Response.  Designate “Dallas Tornadoes 2012” in the drop-down menu.

In addition to working with LWR, Texas VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster), and other community groups, LSSDR will also be working with local congregations and the Synod and District to provide emergency grants to those who are in need.

Damage Assessment:

The Red Cross has assembled a preliminary damage assessment based on verbal conversations with field staff and emergency managers in the affected areas.  Through the Metroplex area the following information has been gathered:

This will be verified with actual damage assessments, on the streets which will continue.  So far damages are in five primary locations, with Lancaster being the largest.

Additional damage assessment teams are arriving in the area to continue assessing damages and to be available if there are additional damages in other parts of the region.

Resources: Shelter 

Resources: Food

Southern Baptist Texas Convention Kitchen (SBTCK)is set up in Lancaster to provide meals.  USDA and HEB are coordinating with SBTCK for food delivery and local food banks and restaurants are supporting the initial breakfast meal.

Fundraising efforts to mobilize donations and transport the hay are ongoing and include regular PSA announcements on country radio stations KASE 101 and KVET in Austin.  Additional exposure has come through “Speaking of Horses,” a radio show out of Wisconsin hosted by renowned equine expert Wayne Williams.  Wayne attended the “Roll In the Hay” benefit and captured interviews of the participants, including World Champion bull rider Scott Mendes. Check out Wayne’s interviews and some of the bull-riding action here  [Note: interviews start at about 1:45 minutes].

Please consider supporting Haylift to Texas by making a donation through www.lssdisasterresponse.org.

Lutheran Social Services Disaster Response (LSSDR) continues to help the wildfire victims rebuild their lives, and we recently received a $50,000 [donation/grant/check] designated to address the ongoing unmet needs of the most vulnerable families and individuals whose homes were destroyed.

“A Roll In the Hay” is coming together with the help of agricultural professionals, farmers, Farm Aid, and transportation employees from Texas, Tennessee, Ohio and
other areas.  Proceeds from the benefit will be used to purchase hay and transportation through Lutheran Social Services Disaster Response, a 501c(3) nonprofit charity. Motivating people to donate hay or provide reasonably priced hay to the cause has been the easiest part of this endeavor; the problem is funding the transportation of up to 100,000 tons of hay from other states to Texas. It is estimated that it costs $3,500 for one semi-truck to travel from Ohio to Texas with donated hay.

“Many people are still in need of help with hay for their livestock due to the drought and wildfires,” said Jean Crawford, Haylift To Texas event organizer. “Farmers north of us are willing to sell us hay at very reasonable prices or even donate hay if we are able to absorb the cost of transportation. The event will be fun and support a great cause.”

“A Roll In the Hay” is a family event, with a host of country entertainers performing throughout the afternoon and evening. They are:  Rich O’Toole, John Wayne Schulz (of American
Idol), Matt Begley & Bittersweet Whiskey, Bo Phillips and Brian Keane, Shy Blakeman, Seth Candan, Nick Verzosa, Kimberly Kelly and the Texas Renegade Band, Mark Alan Atwood and Brimstone, Dewey Wayne, and Russell Ray & Ken Reynolds.

The Cotton Gin houses a professional bull-riding arena, and cowboys from the Professional Bull Riders, organized by retired World Champion Scott Mendes, will be there to do some bull
riding.

Several other country artists who will be on tour but want to participate, are donating auction items to help raise money for this endeavor, and encouraging others to do the same. They are: Miranda Lambert, Pat Green, Leeroy Parnell, Jerry Jeff Walker, Lee Ann Womack, Stoney Larue, and Randy Rogers Band. Callahan’s General Store, Cavenders, Pabst Brewing Company, and many others are donating items to the silent auction.

The Cotton Gin, 441 Railroad St. Maxwell, TX 78656, is located half way between Lockhart & Martindale on Hwy 142.

Plan to join us for what promises to be a wonderful Sunday afternoon!

Tickets (at the door): $25 Adults, $10 Child. Children 10 and under FREE.

Online donations can be made at www.LSSDisasterResponse.org.

Contact:   Jean Crawford, 512-475-4818, haylifttotexas@yahoo.com

Wildfire survivors can download the loan application at the SBA website or fill out an application online.

Additional information about SBA loans is available through SBA’s Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 or TTY 1-800-877-8339. Advice is also available by email.

Texans can register online, via web-enabled phone, or by telephone via FEMA’s toll-free numbers: 1-800-621-3362 or TTY 1-800-462-7585.   711-Relay or Video Relay Service users can call 1-800-621-3362. Assistants are available by phone from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.

That beautiful rain did wonders to assist the firefighters in Bastrop County with their ongoing efforts to extinguish the Bastrop County Complex Fire, which is now reported as 95% contained. Other wildfires in Central Texas continue to have hot spots, but are fully contained. Survivors have been able to re-enter their neighborhoods to survey the damage and to begin to get a sense of what they will need for the way forward. And that way forward can be a long and winding road. Piecing one’s life back together after a disaster is a journey, one through which each disaster survivor must work to adjust to the “new normal” of the post wildfire world. It is during this process of long-term recovery that agencies like LSSDR work to walk side-by-side with survivors, helping them to develop a personalized road-map so that they may successfully navigate that long and winding road to recovery.

As I ponder the beginning of the long-term recovery process for wildfire survivors, I keep coming back to something I learned from the emergency response personnel in both Bastrop and Spicewood, Texas last week—that roots of trees can burn underground. I know, it sounds impossible, but it happens. Firefighters across Central Texas have been dealing with flare-ups due to the roots of trees burning underground, weakening the stability of the trees, causing them to eventually fall over, thus letting the fire escape from the roots only to reignite a blaze. This is a poignant analogy for what disaster survivors may experience throughout long-term recovery. While all on the surface may seem to have calmed, there may be emotional, spiritual, and financial fires burning deep down that will flare-up at a moment’s notice due to the trauma of the disaster event and the stress of the recovery process. Yes, people’s roots are burning. And it is LSSDR and our partner agencies that plan to catch them as they fall and work with them to prevent those burning roots from spreading the fire. Whether through emotional and spiritual care or long-term disaster case management, we strive to be that gentle, soothing, thirst-quenching rain that brings with it renewal, resilience and hope.

So, once again I ask you to please pray for rain.

Heather Neuroth Gatlin, MPA

Vice President of Disaster Response

Lutheran Social Services Disaster Response