UMCOR Opens New Relief Centers After Rita, Responds to Crowded Shelters

NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2005—“There is not a structure standing in Cameron Parish.” That was the grim assessment this morning of an observer in western Louisiana getting a look at the effects of Hurricane Rita’s punishing winds in Louisiana and Texas over the weekend of Sept. 24-25.

The city of Cameron and other coastal towns are accessible only by helicopter or boat, said the Rev. Tom Hazelwood, disaster response executive for United Methodist Committee on Relief. The UMCOR official has virtually lived in the disaster zones of two hurricanes since Aug. 29, when Hurricane Katrina devastated a three-state area of the Gulf Coast. He was in Louisiana for Hurricane Rita.

Shelter Space at a Premium—Or Unavailable

Reporting from Beaumont, TX, this morning, Mr. Hazelwood said that the biggest challenge beyond the utter destruction is crowding at shelters.

“In Lufkin, TX, for example, the First United Methodist Church is a Red Cross shelter with capacity of 260. Sunday night there were 580 people there,” he said. Sixteen other shelters in the Lufkin area face the same situation. Some shelters were destroyed or flooded in the two storms.

Churches Monday night scrambled to feed hundreds with cheese and crackers. Houston United Methodist churches are delivering meals, water and ice to Lufkin shelters today.

New Relief Centers to Open

UMCOR is opening relief centers in the Texas disaster zone, Mr. Hazelwood said. The centers will stock and distribute supplies from other depots, such as UMCOR Sager Brown, the mission center and warehouse in Baldwin, LA.

In Louisiana, conference officials are working with UMCOR to extend their network of emergency response westward to the Lake Charles area. They are evaluating sites for two or three new relief centers.

Once thriving towns in the Lake Charles region are closed even to residents, said Mr. Hazelwood. Electricity and other services have not yet been restored, as flood waters recede. In areas with less heavy wreckage, the next step is to tarp roofs. “If tarps don’t go up soon, there will be more damage,” he said.

UMCOR consultants have again fanned out through the four-state area, working with a dozen highly skilled volunteers who have extensive experience in disaster response.

Their roles vary. Some are training volunteers at storm call centers. Some are experts in case management. Others know how to mobilize church members in a disaster zone and help them design a holistic response. “I can’t think of a church that isn’t involved,” said Mr. Hazelwood. “Churches are doing all they know how to do.”

Cash gifts will help UMCOR continue to support work of volunteers, annual conferences and interfaith response efforts in the Gulf Coast disaster area as well as other vulnerable regions of the world. Checks can be mailed to UMCOR, PO Box 9068, New York, NY 10087. Write “Rita” or “Katrina” in the memo line. One hundred percent of every donation to any appeal, including the appeals for Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, goes to support recovery efforts in the disaster-stricken regions.