CWS emergency appeal: 2010 U.S. summer emergencies
Thursday, July 29, 2010

Flooding in recent weeks throughout the Midwest has put additional pressures on a region that had already been affected by earlier floods and tornadoes. Hundreds of homes in at least four states have been either destroyed or damaged.

A flooded U.S. roadway.

Update to the appeal issued June 18, 2010

Situation

Flooding in recent weeks throughout the Midwest has put additional pressures on a region that had already been affected by earlier floods and tornadoes. Hundreds of homes in at least four states have been either destroyed or damaged.

Iowa: Record-breaking rains, in some areas exceeding 2008 amounts, have caused severe flooding in several counties. Since June 1, 49 counties have been declared as disaster areas by state authorities. Three of the hardest hit counties are Delaware, Jones, and Jackson. The cities of Hopkinton, Monticello and Maquoketa experienced significant flooding July 23-25 due to the failure of the Lake Delhi Dam. Flooding has also destroyed crops in farming areas in several counties.

Kentucky: Following on the heels of extensive flooding in May, Carter, Lewis and Pike counties have experienced a new round of flooding that is worse than the earlier May floods, with at least one fatality reported.

Missouri: In the northwest part of the state, specifically Big Lake in Hope County, hundreds of dwellings were affected by sudden flooding when a levee on the Missouri River gave way. While many of the homes are secondary, vacation residences, approximately 100 are primary residences of mostly retired and elderly persons. Damage was also reported in Miller County from hail, and from floods in Marion County, where a number of residents are poor.

Wisconsin: Heavy rains in the Milwaukee area caused water damage in thousands of homes, from July 22-23.

CWS response

The need for CWS Emergency Clean-up Buckets is serious, as stocks of the buckets are low. In some areas, such as Marion County, Mo., "there are major clean-up needs," said CWS Emergency Response Specialist Bryan Crousore. And throughout affected areas, the need for buckets and clean-up material far outstrips the numbers on hand, Crousore said.

Instructions for how to assemble the buckets can be found on-line at: http://www.churchworldservice.org/buckets

• CWS sent 96 CWS Emergency Clean-up Buckets to a social service agency in Milwaukee.
• In Missouri, CWS has been asked to respond to the situation in Big Lake to help the community with long-term recovery organizing.
• Meanwhile, CWS just completed a round of Recovery Tools and Training workshops in Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama (sites of earlier disasters this year) and will be following up with additional mentoring and/or webinar instruction as additional needs for long-term recovery capacity is identified in affected areas.

How to help

Contributions to support the emergency response work of Church World Service may be made online or by phone (800.297.1516), or may be sent to your denomination or to Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515.