Volunteers from Mt. Olivet UCC, North Lima, build the framework for a new roof over a tornado-damaged mobile home in Northeast Ohio, winter 2003.

Stories of the Disaster Response Team at work

From November 2004 United Church News  

Overwhelming post-hurricane needs in Florida and Haiti 
can overshadow disasters within the borders of the Ohio Conference.

Repair crews and volunteers to organize recovery and give residents
 one-on-one help are needed in Southeast Ohio.
   

Compelling media reports on the hurricane devastation in Florida and the Caribbean have diverted attention and much-needed recovery resources from 15 counties in southeastern and eastern Ohio, where heavy rains in January and May 2004 caused major flooding, even before the remnants of the September hurricanes made the situation worse.

Flooding began last January, caused ‘staggering’ damage

In January, ice-blocked drainage resulted in flooding and mudslides after heavy rains in 11 eastern Ohio counties.

In May, flash flooding destroyed 18 homes in Athens County and another nine in Perry County. A total of 78 homes in both counties suffered major damages, with another 200 incurring minor damage.

In September, flooding from Frances destroyed over 100 homes in Guernsey County and another 58 in Noble County. Hundreds of others were affected; many areas are the same ones hit by high water earlier in the year.

The damage from the three floods was severe enough for more than 30 counties, most along the eastern side of the state, to be federally declared disaster areas at least once. Many counties were declared disaster areas twice.

The damage assessments have been “staggering,” according to Mary Woodward of Lutheran Social Services in Ohio. Residents in the affected counties qualify for a maximum of $5,100 in federal assistance. Most residents have no flood insurance, and the area is economically depressed. Perry County Emergency Management Director Rita Spicer said that the area is “…about as Appalachian as you can get - it’s a pretty poor area.”

SEODRN, interfaith recovery network, coordinates response

Disaster responders from faith groups, including the UCC, formed the Southeast Ohio Disaster Recovery Network (SEODRN) in January to coordinate recovery efforts. SEODRN is the first permanent, long-term, regional flood recovery committee in Ohio, said Scott Wilson, SEODRN’s president. Scott, a member of Trinity UCC, Thornville and of the Ohio Conference Disaster Response Team, says that a regional committee was formed–rather than county-based committees–to help distribute aid equitably among the counties. “We want to get help first to those who need it the most,” Scott said. 

Scott, along with Mary Woodward and Roy Nelson, a Seventh Day Adventist pastor, form SEODRN’s core group. “We are receiving help,” Scott said, “but the need is very great. We need organizational people to help sort out the needs, assess damage, and estimate repairs so that we can make the best use of our recovery resources. This is going to be a long-term effort.” 

How to help recovery efforts

•  Pray for those affected by the disaster and for the people helping them.

•  Volunteers are needed to do a variety of jobs: 

• Home repair - with such extensive damage, fixing or replacing all the homes affected will take years. 

• Volunteers are needed to visit homes, ask people if they were affected by the floods, and let them know that help is available and how to get it. 

• People are needed who can help residents one-on-one – completing SBA loan applications, sitting with the FEMA people at the Disaster Recovery Centers in each county to make sure that residents have correct and complete information about the help available.  FEMA and SEODRN offer training for this type of volunteer.

•  Cleaning and personal care kits are in short supply in the Ohio Conference. Almost all our kits were distributed after the hurricanes and floods. We need churches to prepare more so they will be on hand when we need them. 

Work crew members install siding on new home on the left, being built to replace original home on right.  Flood waters that rose about 24" moved the home from its foundation.  

The homeowner's story

“I had just finished remodeling our house last May,” said Shirley, “when the flood came and ruined it. We lost all our furniture, and the house can’t be fixed. We have to start all over. It’s so depressing.”

Last May, a torrent of floodwater from the nearby hillside moved the home where she and husband Aaron have lived for 12 years several inches off its foundation. 

Since that time, mold and mildew have grown between the layers of the floor, where it is nearly impossible to reach. 

The combined problems prompted Aaron and Shirley to decide to rebuild right next door - after preparing an elevated location for their home, located near Hemlock, Ohio in Perry County.

The homeowners received federal assistance but do not qualify for flood insurance. They are fortunate that Aaron, helped by friends and relatives, is able to do a lot of the construction work himself; but the FEMA money was not nearly enough even to cover purchase of materials. 

Construction is moving along as materials can be purchased and volunteer groups arrive to lend assistance. Aaron and Shirley are living next door with their daughter and her family until their new home is liveable. 

And more than physical recovery is needed. “I can’t sleep when it’s raining,” said Shirley. Their home flooded at around midnight. “I go to bed and lay there awake until it stops raining. Then I can go to sleep.”

Get directions for assembling kits

•  Another way to help is to give money, either directly to SEODRN at any National City Bank or through the Ohio Conference Disaster Response Team.  

To learn more about how you can help, contact Mary Woodward at 740-685-7636 or Scott Wilson at 740-246-4869, 614-348-9540 or skwilsonnumberthree@hotmail.com.

8/31/04 Report from Jim Ditzler, Team Director

I am pleased to report that the Ohio Conference, last Thursday, loaded the following for delivery to a Tampa, Florida warehouse for distribution to those people experiencing loss from Hurricane Charley.

1060 Cleaning Kits
48 School Kits
10 Layette Kits
500 (approx) Health Kits

Trinity UCC, Wooster supplied all the people-power for loading.  Wooster Motor Ways supplied the tractor-trailer at no charge, and two drivers volunteered their time.

From April 2004 United Church News

Members of the Ohio Conference Disaster Response Ministry Team led an ecumenical effort during last winter’s cold weather to build a roof over a 70-foot mobile home occupied by an elderly husband and wife in Lisbon, Ohio, about 30 miles east of Canton. 

After the tornadoes in northeast Ohio last Fall, Jim Ditzler, Director of the Response Team, traveled to the area and met with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials to see how the Response Team could help. 

In addition to delivering clean-up kits to be distributed to home and business owners recovering from storm damage, Ditzler learned about the couple whose roof had been seriously damaged. He called in Team member Harry Harker, from Mt. Olivet UCC in North Lima, and the decision was made that Harker would lead a group to build a wood and shingle “add-on” roof, supported by wooden legs, over the entire mobile home. The original roof was judged to be too seriously damaged to be repaired. 

Estimates for materials to build the new roof totaled $4,000. Although volunteer labor would save thousands more that would have been charged by professional carpenters, the homeowners received only $775 from FEMA and could not afford to buy the materials.

Harker solicited donations that provided the remainder needed. The Mahoning Valley Relief Network, with which Harker is affiliated, contributed $1,000. Mt. Olivet UCC gave $500. The Ohio Conference Disaster Response Team donated $700, and Carter Lumber supplied $800 in materials free of charge.

Work began in November and continued until early March. “We repaired the roof right in the middle of winter; it was a very tough job,” said Harker, who led the team made up of six workers from Mt. Olivet, two Presbyterians and one Seventh Day Adventist pastor. “We worked about six hours a day whenever the weather was decent, on maybe ten or more days,” added Harker. 

The team’s work took on even more significance when, during the winter, the husband died after suffering a heart attack. The personal attachment that can develop between volunteers and homeowners was demonstrated by the fact that Harker attended the funeral. He expressed concern about the widow’s future. “We hope she’ll be able to continue living there on her own,” he said, “but it’s hard to tell what the future holds for her.”

Harker emphasized that homeowners are not the only ones who benefit from the Disaster Response Team efforts. Working with a group to provide hands-on help to someone in trouble can be a tremendous boost to a volunteer’s self-esteem.

“The work we do can affect the lives of the people who do it as much as it does those who we help,” said Harker. “Doing this work, being part of a team of people working to help someone else, can be a life-changing experience.”

To learn more about the Disaster Response Team, contact the Team’s Director, Jim Ditzler, at 330-262-3242 or jditzler@sssnet.com.

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From March 2004 United Church News

FEMA has declared seven counties in southeast Ohio as disaster areas after the January 3 floods and mudslides. The Disaster Response Team will be part of a coordinated effort to assist in recovery.

Many thanks to Disaster Response Team member Harry Harker for his tireless efforts on many team projects. Harry currently is leading a roof repair project in Lisbon, Ohio.

Patty DiGiacobbe, from Howland Community Church, Warren, is also doing great work as a volunteer in response ministry to the floods in northeast Ohio last summer.

Disaster Response Team Director, Jim Ditzler, is looking for persons willing to start a chain saw crew. “I have observed this service to be the single most popular request in disasters and non-disaster wind storms,” Ditzler said.

“This crew would be trained and equipped and would function as an element of the Disaster Response Ministry. It would be more than an informal group who respond to an individual situation. I am looking for a  trained crew with its own equipment.”

The Ohio Conference received a letter of thanks from Wyoming County, West Virginia, for our support in flood recovery efforts during the past two years. “Thanks to you and your support, over 400 families who suffered flood damage have been able to return to homes that are safe and secure.”

From September 2003 United Church News

By Patty DiGiacobbe
Mission/Outreach Chairperson, Howland Community Church, Warren, Ohio

In the spring of 2001, Cathy and David Jackson lost their home to a flood in Pineville, West Virginia. One year later, the 1930’s-era home they bought to replace it was damaged by another flood. The devastation and anger were very apparent as they told us their stories and showed us pictures from the floods.

On July 8, 2003, a group of seven people from Howland Community Church in Warren descended upon their damaged home and did their best to rebuild some of their hope by beginning the remodeling process. The group from HCC was supervised and assisted by Tim and Jennifer Rowles from Trinity UCC in Canton.

The first task was tearing off old drywall. It was unbelievable what we found underneath. The walls had no studs, and the ceiling was bowed considerably.  Cathy told us that every time they started a new project, they found more problems. We spent the next three days shimming the ceiling, building new walls, moving walls and raising a bay window that had been installed too low.  

David had gone back to work in North Carolina, where he works two jobs, one to pay the bills and one to rebuild the house. Cathy spent a lot of her time with us. The smile on her face said it all as we completed each step along the way. What an incredible feeling it gave each of us. We all felt that perhaps in a small way, we had brought some hope to the Jacksons, that, indeed, they might be in their home by Christmas.

On July 7, the group from Howland built  roofs to complete two decks for Evelyn Blankenship. Although we did not see much of Evelyn, we knew that our work meant a lot to her. The first decks that were built for her had to be torn down and rebuilt because of poor workmanship. She was just glad to finally have the work all done.

Not only did the trip bring incredible feelings of satisfaction to the workers from HCC but also we believe that it also brought hope to the Jacksons and Blankenships. It is a trip we will never forget.
     

From September 2003 United Church News

Cathy and David Jackson and their 12-year-old daughter Ashley live deep in the mountains of West Virginia, a few minutes drive outside  Pineville. The view from the bay window of their 1930’s-era home is of the trees covering the steep incline of the mountain 50 feet from their front door.

They can’t enjoy the view from that window right now – unless they sit on the pile of drywall that is stacked in the middle of their living room. Their home is a construction site. It had to be dismantled down to the bare outside walls after flood waters rushing down the mountain soaked everything inside.

Teams of volunteers have been helping the Jacksons remove ruined drywall and flooring and put their house back together over the last 16 months. The most recent groups have been sponsored by the Ohio Conference Disaster Response Team. 

An eight-member work group from Westerville Community UCC installed windows and erected inner walls during their July visit.

The group camped out in the cafeteria of a local school, cooked in the school kitchen, cleaned up in the showers installed for flood recovery workers, and spent their days wielding saws, tape measures, nail guns and hammers.

By the end of the week, the house had new windows throughout, and it was ready for insulation and drywall. The combined efforts of several groups of workers have moved the Jacksons that much closer to their goal of celebrating Christmas in their “new” home.

Four times in five years, natural disasters have brought great damage to SONKA-land (Southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky).  The 1997 river floods; 1999 Cincinnati tornado; 2000 Xenia tornado and now the hidden waters from the July 17^th rains have resulted in hundreds of ruined basements and many thousands of dollars of damage in the Cincinnati area.  Many of these homeowners, not accustomed to high waters, were not insured for flood damage.  

In the quickly rising waters on the 17^th (up to 8 inches of rain in three hours), three lives were lost; one teenage girl, who slept in the basement as the foundation wall caved way to the flood waters, and her father who attempted to save her, were two of the victims while the third was yet another teenager who, attempting to leave her submerged car, was swept away by a swollen stream.  Another couple had to quickly move to the roof as their entire home filled with water.  Damage occurred in many sections of the city, which means that no home is “immune” from such disaster.

The Ohio Conference UCC Disaster Response Team was “on the job” within hours of these rain waters.  Because SONKA coordinators, Jean and George Siddall, had unchangeable plans to be out-of-town, deep appreciation goes to Dr. Tom Eisentrout, who on a moment’s notice, took over “clean-up” efforts for many residents, identified by the Red Cross, who were unable to clean up their own basements.  Contacted by Tom, UCC churches in the areas of these residents responded to this challenge.  These churches were Immanuel UCC, Queen City; Lakeview UCC; Trinity UCC, Deer Park; St. Johns UCC, Reading; St Peter UCC, Pleasant Ridge.  MANY THANKS to these churches for their immediate response.

A long-term recovery plan has been established which involves re-activation of an ecumenical committee that worked to meet “un-met needs” of area residents in 1997 and 1999.  This group, working with the Red Cross and other service agencies will again  identify persons who sustained great losses which are not covered through insurance, government programs or Red Cross assistance  and who do not have adequate income to repair and replace the damages they sustained.

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