Loading...While not readily apparent to some, Louisville has experienced a major disaster, and community leaders are organizing to provide ongoing, long-term recovery assistance to the victims of the Aug. 4 flash flood.
The Diocese of Kentucky was among several non-profit groups invited to the organizational meetings.
The flooding occurred after some six and a half inches of rain fell in about an hour, the deluge overwhelming the community’s water drainage system. Universities, hospitals, the main public library, and Churchill Downs Museum were closed because of flooding, and more than 20,000 Louisville Gas & Electric customers lost power during the storm, according to news reports. This disaster is “large” by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s standards because it has affected such a large number of people, said Jim Garrett, the volunteer services coordinator with the Kentucky Emergency Management Office.
The disaster, however, also poses a unique challenge because, he said, “it is not like a lot of disaster events where you go down a street and see a lot of visible damage.” Although this can be viewed as a positive because “a lot of things were not washed away,” Garrett added, “we’re constantly reminding folks [and] ourselves that it has been a major, significant event in terms of the damages that we’re seeing and the damages that will require long-term recovery help so folks can get back into a stable living environment.”
Out-of-state volunteers helped clean up more than 1,700 flooded homes, most of them located in northwestern Louisville and Shively. As of Sept. 3, the officials reported, 10,417 flood victims had registered with FEMA and some $11 million in disaster assistance had already been distributed.
But local volunteers are needed to continue assistance when the out-of-state help leaves. Federal and state emergency management officials have reported that they expect between 300 and 400 people will need on-going assistance for up to four to six months.
Encouraging local service organizations to work together and develop a plan of coordinated services, the federal and state officials hosted a meeting on Sept. 3 at the Fourth Avenue United Methodist Church.
About 15 people attended, representing eight organizations. “We have a common problem here.... Let’s find some common solutions,” urged Garrett. “Those of us in faith traditions say, ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one,’ so we try to be one in working together in bringing solutions to folks.”
By working together, Garrett also noted, the service organizations can share resources so assistance is not duplicated, no group is overwhelmed, and problems are solved.
Mary Anna Speller, a representative of the Indiana Kentucky Conference of United Methodist Churches, outlined a sequence of services that need to be available during the recovery process. Establishing a disaster case management team, however, is the most pressing and important task to be accomplished by the community leaders, according to Speller and FEMA official Jerry Harfoot. Trained case managers can help disaster victims apply for and receive the various forms of assistance for which they are eligible.
Volunteers are needed to assist with all facets of the recovery process, including construction management and volunteer coordination. If interested, contact the Diocese of Kentucky’s emergency relief coordinator, the Rev. Karl Lusk, at karllusk@bellsouth.net or by phone at 502-348-4317.
Helping the recovery effort in Louisville is important, said Lusk. Although people may think Louisville has a lot of assets and resources to take care of the victims, he stressed “that’s not really true.” The flooding impacted a lot of individual properties so the “bounce back factor,” will not be as good as it was after the ice storm, which involved mostly infrastructure damage.
“Life presents us with opportunities to serve all the time, and this is certainly an opportunity,” said Lusk. “There is the sense that we can make lemonade out of the lemon to help both the folks who have been affected by the flood and at the same time to be helped ourselves by understanding that we really are all in this together.... We’re all part of the same created order and here’s an opportunity to live into that. We ought to take it.”
