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As high waters subsided across Southwest Texas the week of July 8, United Methodist officials were organizing efforts to help with flood recovery in at least 35 counties. The United Methodist Committee on Relief was dispatching a truckload of cleaning supplies from its Baldwin, La., depot for use at several Southwest Texas sites, including Castroville, Canyon Lake, New Braunfels and Seguin.
High water has claimed the life of at least one United Methodist. Liden Dokken, a member of Utopia United Methodist Church, died July 2 when he was swept off his tractor by floodwaters along the Sabinal River. He reportedly had been trying to pull neighbors from high water. Dokken was one of nine people reported killed in flooding across the region.
Bishop Joel Martinez met with disaster response officials from the United Methodist Southwest Texas and Rio Grande annual conferences on July 8 to assess needs for volunteer teams and relief funds to help with long-term recovery. The updated assessment covered communities from the Texas Hill Country southeast to the Gulf of Mexico along the Colorado, Guadalupe, Nueces and San Antonio river watersheds.
Martinez requested an initial $60,000 grant from UMCOR for assistance in Bandera, Castroville, Comfort, Kerrville, New Braunfels, San Antonio and Seguin. New Braunfels and Seguin were among the areas suffering major flood damage in October 1998, the last time the Guadalupe River went on a rampage.
"One good thing," said Bonnie Terry, Southwest Texas Conference disaster-response coordinator, "is that recovery groups in New Braunfels and Seguin have not disbanded. That gives us a head start on recovery from this flood in those areas."
Martinez saw flooding firsthand July 5 in Comfort, Kerrville and San Antonio. He and representatives of the Rio Grande and Southwest Texas conferences prayed with flood victims, visited relief volunteers and spoke to local officials.
"We will be working in cooperation with other churches to address unmet needs to help you recover from this disaster," he told flood victims in Comfort.
Rising water prevented the seven-member group from making additional stops July 5 in Bandera and Utopia, but the bishop visited flood sites in Castroville, New Braunfels and Seguin on July 9 and in Bandera on July 10.
Conference officials had received no reports of major flood damage to church property or of canceled services as of July 7. Pastors in Bandera, Canyon Lake, Comfort, Kerrville, Lakeview, New Braunfels, Seguin and Utopia reported members of their congregations dealing with flood damage.
"The good thing here is that we had 24 hours' advance warning," said the Rev. Lonnie B. Phillips, senior pastor of First United Methodist Church, Seguin. "People could move their stuff to higher ground." Flooding hit Seguin in 1998 without warning, he noted.
An upper-level, low-pressure system moved over South Texas June 29, sparking seven straight days of torrential rains. San Antonio International Airport officially recorded more than 15 inches during the period. Radar reports indicated that more than 35 inches of rain fell on parts of Bandera, Bexar, Kendall and Kerr counties. Runoff water pushed levels in the Canyon Lake and Medina Lake reservoirs to record highs.
Gov. Rick Perry declared 29 counties a state disaster area July 3 and requested federal assistance. He added 10 more counties to the list July 7. President Bush declared 10 counties a federal disaster area July 4. He added three more counties to that list July 6 and 11 more counties on July 8. Incomplete early reports show flood damage to at least 48,000 homes, according to the American Red Cross.
Donations to assist with flood relief efforts can be made through UMCOR. Checks designated to UMCOR Advance #901315 "Texas Floods" can be placed in church collection plates or mailed directly to UMCOR at 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Credit-card donations can be made by calling 1-800-554-8583 or going online.
July 11, 2002
Douglass Cannon is editor of the United Methodist Witness, the newspaper of the United Methodist Church's Southwest Texas Annual Conference.
Source: United Methodist News Service.
