Back to most
recent news releases • Browse archive: 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • Email this
story
Special safety equipment protects flood clean-up workers
Kathy Shepard, safety coordinator for the Community Access Center in Independence tests a protective coverall to be used by volunteers cleaning flood-damaged homes.
Photo: Nick Wright
|
By Matt Hackworth/CWS
COFFEYVILLE, KS – Not even a hard-driving summer rainstorm can wash away the most visible reminder of flooding here -- a sticky, black ring of oil around everything that stood in the way of late June flooding.
"I've seen damage for 20 years but I was really taken aback by the oil," Church World Service emergency response specialist Joann Hale said. "It's just unreal."
When midsummer rains swelled the Verdigris River, floodwaters overtook the Coffeyville Resources refinery, sending a sheen of 72,000 gallons of oil floating through a whole neighborhood.
A neighborhood of lower-income dwellings surrounds the refinery, and the piles of debris typical in floods are notably marked by a varnish of sludge that now bakes in the hot Kansas sun. Any trace of oil inside a Coffeyville home is the harbinger of a total loss.
"In such large doses as found here, oil can cause plenty of health problems," said Hale, who specializes in technological disasters. "Even minimal exposure can cause rashes and dizziness. It's toxic, it's a carcinogen and it's just too messy to be totally cleaned."
A government ban will keep about 300 families from returning to their oil-ridden homes. Even in damaged homes not contaminated by oil, normal flood damage is dangerous enough. Raw sewage, heavy metals, and other contaminants are common, and mold is a paramount concern.
So as hundreds of families return to survey and repair their homes, CWS and the United Church of Christ (UCC) are helping ensure the process is safer.
"Based on what we found in Coffeyville and nearby Independence, we needed to do something to make sure survivors are safely entering their homes," UCC Disaster Ministries Executive Director Florence Coppola said.
 Carrie Bacon, disaster relief coordinator at the Community Access Center in Independence, Kan., packs a bag with safety gear supplied by CWS and the UCC to be used for flood cleanup. Photo: Nick Wright
|
CWS and UCC joined to provide protective suits, gloves, antiseptic hand wipes and respirators throughout Montgomery County, along with an informational flyer on the dangers of working in mold-ridden spaces. It is the first project in the new CWS focus of project development in emergency response.
The Rev. Wayne Norton agreed time is of the essence. As pastor of First (American) Baptist Church of Coffeyville, Norton said concerns quickly grew after the flood recessed.
"One man told us he moved a couch that had been in the flood, and he worried about the oil," Norton said. "We said he should probably be worried instead about raw sewage. And he was wearing just shorts and a T-shirt. In the haste to get back home, people are forgetting the hygiene in all this."
There were a few items of protective clothing available in the days following the flood but these donated items were finite.
Distributing the protective gear proved a challenge, too. In the scramble to respond, community groups and churches set up a single warehouse to receive volunteers and assist survivors in Independence, at the center of Montgomery County. Cars, flooded at the same time as homes, meant a trip to Independence for families in outlying areas was difficult. To help, CWS worked to bring together ministers who will coordinate distribution of the protective clothing across the county, some 651 square miles.
The network of ministers in Montgomery County is new, and could help in any future disasters. Should another emergency arise, Coppola hopes health concerns brought about in this summer's flood will be in the forefront of any future response. "Health and safety issues need to be looked at in every disaster," she said.
Contributions to support these efforts may be sent to your denomination or directly to Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515. Contributions may also be made by credit card online, or by calling: 800-297-1516, ext. 222.
Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676;
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526;
Back to most
recent news releases • Browse archive: 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • Email this
story