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Church Relief Workers Begin Response to Hurricane DamagesDate: September 22, 2003 
United Methodist churches and recovery workers are assessing the damages on the East Coast from Hurricane Isabel, which struck Sepember 18.
Early the next day, volunteers for the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) were out assessing damages in North Carolina, Virginia and the Baltimore-Washington area. UMCOR sent 1,000 flood buckets-- containers of cleanup supplies-- to the North Carolina area in preparation for the storm.Additional UMCOR workers will be on the ground this afternoon (Monday). Currently workers are distributing ice and water while technicians work to restore electric service.
"The biggest problem is that a lot of people are without power and there is some flooding," said Erik Alsgaard, co-director of communications for the Baltimore-Washington Conference. "We have one church parsonage that has about four feet of water in its basement."
The parsonage is at Turner Station United Methodist Church in the Baltimore area. "It is a blessing we are not in any perilous situations," the Rev. Dred Scott, church pastor, told conference reporter Melissa Lauber. "We are messily inconvenienced."
The church called its older members and shut-ins to be sure they were OK, and it cooked breakfast for about 10 people, Alsgaard said.
Brooklyn United Methodist Church in Baltimore suffered roof damage. However, Old Otterbein United Methodist Church, located on Baltimore's inner harbor and near the convention center where the 1984 General Conference was held, was fine, Alsgaard said.
The conference has been in touch with its district superintendents, district disaster relief coordinators and early response team, he said. They are ready to go if needed.
The early response team consists of volunteers trained for dealing with such situations. The Baltimore-Washington Conference also has a supply trailer that can be towed by pickup truck to disaster-stricken areas. The trailer has relief supplies such as flood buckets.
"We have a lot of trees down, power outages and flooding," said Barbara Tripp, director of the North Carolina Annual Conference's response center.
Tom Hazelwood, director of UMCOR Disaster Response in Washington, said it might be midweek before the full extent of the damage from the hurricane would be known.
"Fairfax County and Washington D.C. really got hit hard. There are many power outages, trees down and people without water," he said.
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This story has been adapted from a United Methodist News Service Report by Kathy Gilbert and Tim Tanton.
Photos: 1. Isabel caused a tidal surge that soaked parts of downtown Baltimore. One person who lived in Baltimore for 60 years said it was the worst tidal surge he'd seen. Credit: DNN photo by Susan Kim. 2. Downed trees and power lines from Hurricane Isabel have kept power knocked out to millions of homes. Credit: A DNN photo by PJ Heller, http://www.disasternews.net. Click on any photo to see a larger version.
People interested in doing volunteer work for the recovery effort may call UMCOR's volunteer line, 1-800-918-3100. Donations may be made to UMCOR's Hurricanes 2003, Advance #982438. Checks may be placed in United Methodist church offering plates or sent directly to: UMCOR, 475 Riverside Drive, Room 330, New York, N.Y. 10115. Checks should be written to UMCOR. Call 1-800-554-8583 to make a credit card donation.
