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On Hatteras after Isabel, It Comes Out in the Wash: Churches Find a Way to HelpDate: September 24, 2003 
HATTERAS, N.C.: The Rev. Charles Moseley is going to get his wish. He's finally going to get some clean underwear.
Ever since Hurricane Isabel decimated this Outer Banks community, cutting it off from the mainland, knocking out electrical and telephone service and destroying its water system-- residents like Moseley have had to cope the best they could. While some essential services have been restored-- telephone and a majority of electrical service-- the water system remains out of commission and is not expected to come on-line for several more days. What water is available is being rationed; portable showers have been set up in a trailer.
Moseley, the pastor at the Hatteras United Methodist Church, joked about the conditions to his congregation earlier this week, noting that he was running out of clean clothes.
"I said to them there was no need to even look around to see who it is that smells because we all stink," he said. "I said I'm on my last pair of shorts, what some people call their underwear. I call them my drawers."
It wasn't long before Moseley's message spread to other Outer Banks towns.
Pastor Susie Slater of St. John's United Methodist Church in Avon heard about Moseley's dilemma and decided to help not only him, but others on Hatteras who were in the same dirty situation.
So she arranged for women in her congregation to take in laundry from Hatteras-- sent over by boat, the only way currently to get to the town since Hurricane Isabel wiped out the only road. Even the U.S. mail, which typically is delivered to and from Hatteras by truck, was being hauled back and forth by boat, accompanied by postal workers. Slater said the laundry will come over on a morning boat, be distributed to people for washing, then will be brought back to the dock in the afternoon in time to catch the last boat back to Hatteras.
"They need clean clothes," Slater said. "Nothing makes you feel better than clean clothes."
At the Hatteras church on Tuesday afternoon, plastic bags stuffed with laundry filled the front entryway. The bags were labeled with each person's name.
The laundry cleaning project was just one of many efforts being reported of people helping others in the wake of the hurricane, which made landfall in North Carolina and spread its devastation through the mid-Atlantic states.
Slater said the laundry idea was simply an effort by people who wanted to respond in some way to help those affected by the storm.
"It's very disturbing that people want to respond and need to respond but not knowing how and feeling powerless," she said.
In Avon, where her church is located, damage was not significant.
"We are so aware of how much we have to be thankful for," Slater said. "Not responding (to help others) is almost like not saying, 'Thank you God.' It's not always just enough to say, 'Thank you, thank you Lord my house is standing' when you know that just down the road your brother's house is demolished, is gone, doesn't exist."
Photos: 1. Residents on Hatteras begin cleaning up devastation caused by Hurricane Isabel. 2. Devastation on Hatteras caused by Hurricane Isabel. Credit: Disaster News Network photos by PJ Heller, http://www.disasternews.net. Click on any photo to see a larger version.
Please give generously to UMCOR's Hurricanes 2003, Advance #982438. Your tax-deductible gift 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. Persons who can volunteer to work in the recovery efforts may call UMCOR's Volunteer Line toll free: 1-800-918-3100.
You can also help replenish the supply of flood buckets at the UMCOR Sager Brown Depot. Flood buckets are filled with cleaning supplies that people use to clean their homes after floods and hurricanes. For assembly and shipping instructions, call the depot at 1-800-814-8765 or visit UMCOR's emergency kits webpage. Please note that UMCOR cannot pay for shipping or pick up flood buckets to transport them to the depot. You may also give a financial donation to purchase cleaning supplies that the Depot staff and volunteers will use to assemble flood buckets. To help purchase cleaning supplies, give to UMCOR's Material Resource Ministry, Advance #901440.
