CWS emergency appeal: 2011 Spring storms December 2011 update
Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Severe storms, floods and tornadoes devastated large areas of the United States in April, May and June 2011. The list of states with significant damage from flooding includes Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Louisiana.

CWS Emergency Response Specialist Bryan Crousore leading a disaster recovery workshop in Missouri.

Appeal Number 627-P
Appeal Goal: $280,000
Amount received: about $173,000

Situation:

Severe storms, floods and tornadoes devastated large areas of the United States in April, May and June 2011. The list of states with significant damage from flooding includes Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Louisiana. States with significant spring storm and tornado damage include Alabama, Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia, Georgia and Ohio.

The impacted areas are now beyond the clean-up phase of their recovery. Long Term Recovery Committees have formed and are hard at work developing and implementing plans for the recovery of their homes and communities.

CWS response:

Extensive training has been and continues to be provided by CWS and its member communions. Training has been conducted in the areas of Long Term Recovery Basics, LTR Committee organization, Disaster Case Management, Emotional and Spiritual Care, Construction Management, Volunteer Management and other specialized areas as requested by the survivors. CWS Emergency Specialists have conducted on-the-ground training in Alabama, Kentucky, Georgia, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Vermont, Missouri and New York.

CWS has shipped material goods to Illinois, Tennessee, North Carolina, Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama and Kentucky. Material goodS shipped include 2,400 Clean Up Buckets, 1,150 Blankets, 10,350 Hygiene Kits, 6,400 School Kits, and 1,425 Baby Kits. The total value of these items is about $400,000 (revised figure). Shipping costs are approximately $60,000.

CWS has provided Long Term Recovery Start Up Grants to Long Term Recovery Committees in Alabama, Missouri, North Carolina, Arkansas and Kansas. To date, 22 grants have been provided with a total value of $110,000. Several new grants have recently been received and will be supported as funds permit.

CWS Emergency Response Specialists continue to assist the Long Term Recovery Committees in the impacted states and will continue to train and consult with the LTR Committees as needed. Emergency Response Specialists are also in contact with churches and faith-based organizations, our member partners, FEMA Volunteer Liaisons, and State and local Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters to determine where additional assistance is needed.

Budget:

Total is $280,000. This includes $60,000 for material resources and shipping, $180,000 for emergency response grants to long term recovery groups and $40,000 for staff development. CWS partner denominations have pledged $173,000 to date.

HOW TO HELP: Contributions to support CWS emergency response efforts may be made online, sent to your denomination, or to Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515.

  Church World Service is a member of the ACT Alliance, a global coalition of churches and agencies engaged in development, humanitarian assistance and advocacy.

Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, 212-870-2676, lcrosson@churchworldservice.org
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526, jdragin@gis.net