Emergency Response News Briefs

May 25, 2006 • Archive

ERP Staffers, Committee Member have Key Roles at VOAD Meeting

Members of the ERP domestic disaster staff and the ERP Executive Committee participated in the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) conference, May 9-12 in Raleigh, N.C.

DRRL Charlie Moeller, as chair of the North Carolina VOAD, chaired the conference planning committee. DRRL Tim Johnson was also a member of the planning committee. ERP Associate Director Linda Reed Brown serves on the National VOAD Board of Directors and was elected to serve a second year as treasurer during the annual business meeting. She also served as the chair of the 2006 Awards and Recognitions committee and moderator of the group’s awards luncheon.

As for other participation: DRRL Joann Hale and Florence Coppola from the United Church of Christ and member of the ERP Executive Committee conducted a three-hour training -- "Technology Caused Disaster in the Real World,” which explored tech disasters and how local, state, and national volunteer agencies respond to them.

DRRL Tom Davis conducted workshops on disaster emotional and spiritual care that highlighted the newly published "Light Our Way," a guidebook for disaster spiritual care. DRRLs Tim Johnson and Heriberto Martinez presented a lesson from the "Community Arise: Long-term Recovery" module designed by CWS and denominational partners. Linda Reed Brown presented the "Community Arise: Vulnerability to Disasters" module.

ERP Staffer Wins Award for Darfur Reporting

CWS ERP Communications Officer Chris Herlinger is in Nashville, TN, today to accept the 2006 Egan Award for Journalistic Excellence from Catholic Relief Services (CRS). The award recognizes Chris’s reporting from Darfur, Sudan, for National Catholic Reporter, which he did in conjunction with a 2004 assignment for Church World Service, Lutheran World Relief and other U.S. and European relief agencies. Eileen Egan, for whom the CRS award is named, was the Catholic relief agency’s first professional layperson and overseas staff representative. The award was presented at the Catholic Media Convocation hosted by the Catholic Press Association.

One of the stories Chris wrote for NCR can be accessed at:
http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2005b/040105/040105a.php

Other DRRL Activities in New Orleans, Florida and Puerto Rico

DRRL Lura Cayton offered her on-site expertise and knowledge to board members from Week of Compassion as they toured through New Orleans on May 10.

DRRL Lesli Remaly was keynote speaker at a planning retreat for INTACT, a long-term recovery group that responded to 2004 hurricanes -- Jeanne and Frances - in St. Lucie County, Florida. About 40 people attended the event on May 14 in St. Lucie. Remaly spoke about mitigation and preparedness issues related to the 2006 hurricane season, and helped the group plan ways to sustain their long-term recovery organization structure.

DRRL Heriberto Martinez served as trainer and co-leader of trainings on Preparedness, Response and Recovery for both government and non-governmental organizations in Luquillo, Puerto Rico May 16 - 18. The event was sponsored by FEMA and some 60 people participated. Luquillo was the site of a major disaster event -- flooding and mudslides -- in November 2003.

Christian Aid official speaks to EXCOM on Darfur Response

Brian Martin of UK-based Christian Aid, a CWS partner, attended the ERP International Roundtable meeting in Baltimore last week where he provided an update on the work of Action by Churches Together (ACT) partners in Darfur. Martin worked in Darfur as a part of the ACT team for a year.

2006 Hurricane Season Forecast: Busy, not Severe

The 2006 hurricane season is expected to be busy, but perhaps not as severe as the 2005 season, the National Hurricane Center has predicted. In a forecast announced Monday, the Miami-based center predicted 16 named storms. Last year up to 15 storms were predicted but the number of named storms hit a record unbroken since 1851: 28 storms. There were a total of 15 hurricanes in 2005, seven of which were Category 3 or higher. One reason the 2006 season may not be as active is because water in the Atlantic is cooler than it was in 2005. A major cause of hurricanes is the prevalence of warm oceanic water.