Emergency Appeal Update: Hurricane Katrina Response

September 23, 2005

SITUATION UPDATE: 

ALABAMA:

• 6 dead
• 1,700 homes damaged or destroyed
• Emergency management officials estimate 23,183 persons displaced
• Thousands of uprooted families from Louisiana and Mississippi staying with family and friends in economically depressed areas across southern Alabama
• 85,000 registrations for federal assistance from FEMA
• Baldwin and Mobile County most heavily impacted

LOUISIANA

• 800 confirmed dead; several hundred still unaccounted for
• More than 820,000 registrations for federal assistance from FEMA
• Some 150,000 housing units destroyed
• Severe environmental health risks for survivors and relief workers
• 234,081 customers remain without electricity

MISSISSIPPI:

• 225 confirmed dead
• Red Cross estimates 56,430 homes, including apartments, condos, and mobile homes destroyed in six coastal counties (Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River, Stone, and George).
• An estimated 30,000 temporary housing units are needed
• Widespread loss of jobs, livelihoods, and income
• 382,406 Mississippians have applied for disaster assistance from FEMA
• Extensive destruction of poultry and livestock populations

Trauma for those directly and indirectly distressed by this hurricane will have far-reaching consequences for not only the survivors, but also untold thousands of relief/rescue personnel and sheltering/case management care-givers will expose themselves physically, psychologically and spiritually to the grief, frustration and hopelessness of the survivors as they seek to rebuild their lives.

CWS RESPONSE UPDATE

1. CWS Tools of Hope Blankets and "Gift of the Heart" Kit Update
   As of September 23, Church World Service has shipped $1.2 million in material assistance to affected areas:
   • 14,670 CWS Blankets (valued at $107,510)
   • 60,285 "Gift of the Heart" Health Kits (valued at $836,270)
   • 6,360 CWS "Gift of the Heart" School Kits (valued at $82,680)
   • 808 CWS "Gift of the Heart" Kids Kits (valued at $19,392)
   • 3,675 CWS Emergency Cleanup Buckets (valued at $165,375)
   • 20 IMA Medicine Boxes and 17 UNICEF Recreational Kits (combined valued at $21,953).
   Shipments have been made to Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi, as well as to relocation centers in Michigan and Virginia.
2. Recovery work by CWS Disaster Response and Recovery Liaisons (DRRLS)
   CWS DRRLs are on-site throughout central/eastern Texas, southern Louisiana, central/Gulf Coast Mississippi, and southern Alabama, working with members of the local and statewide faith-community, voluntary organizations, and government agencies, assisting in all areas of emergency response and recovery.
   
   Latest deployments:
   DRRL Joann Hale will report to southeastern Texas/western Louisiana early next week following Hurricane Rita landfall and continue supporting work with Houston, Austin, and San Antonio recovery organizations started by Heriberto Martinez.
   
   DRRL Charlie Moeller will be deployed to central Mississippi to join and support efforts of DRRLs John Sims and Tom Davis.
   
   DRRL Tim Johnson will report to southern Mississippi where DRRLs Lesli Remaly and Cherri Baer started work
   
   DRRL Lura Cayton is returning to Baton Rouge to work with the Louisiana Interchurch Conference (LIC) and the Greater Baton Rouge Federation of Churches and Synagogues in development of programs and support services for the 263,000 new residents of the city
   
   
3. Recovery organizing meetings
   Groups are coming together in Louisiana and Mississippi to strategize long-term recovery programs:
   
   LOUSIANA
   Regular meetings of Baton Rouge religious leaders are taking place. Faith leaders from all over the state are also in the beginning stages of organizing a statewide Interfaith. A major concern: churches across the state acting as for anywhere from 10 - 500 people need resources and financial support.
   
   MISSISSIPPI
   The Mississippi Coastal Interfaith Task Force is exploring the possibility of operating as an umbrella organization encompassing emerging long-term recovery groups in Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson counties on the coast. The Vietnamese community is holding ongoing meetings at the Vietnamese Catholic Church in East Biloxi.
   
   
4. Relocation Update:
   Services are being provided in ten states through CWS's established network of local agencies normally serving refugees resettled from around the world. Giving priority to people most in need, the program is helping Katrina evacuees:
   • Connect to resources offered by such agencies as FEMA, HUD, and the Red Cross on the local level
   • Find affordable housing, jobs and health care
   • Enroll their children in school
   • Integrate into their new communities - whether their stay ultimately is short or long
   CWS/IRP is supporting relocation services being provided through its field office in Miami and through the following eight of its local affiliates.

Church World Service
Hurricane Katrina Response -- #6280
P.O. Box 968
Elkhart, IN 46515

Contributions may also be made by credit card by calling: (800) 297-1516, ext. 222, or by making a secure gift online .