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Abigail Nelson, a representative from Episcopal Relief and Development, the worldwide relief agency of the Episcopal Church which provides money and resources in times of emergency or disaster, and Pat Genereux, who is coordinating flood relief efforts for the Diocese of Iowa, toured areas of Iowa affected by the floods of June. Martha Lang, New Song's deacon, and Mel Schlacter, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Iowa City, accompanied them on the Coralville/Iowa City leg of the tour. Here's Pat's report of their tour yesterday.
Dear Friends... What a day yesterday! Poor Abigail, what a long day for her...we got done at 9 PM! Abigail got to experience the full gamut of Iowa summer weather: heat, humidity and a thirty minute downpour that at times cut visibility on I 80 to just a few yards. Cathy Bascom and John Doherty took us to the 'Birdland' area in DSM where some 200 households have been affected. We saw one of the homes that the DSM "All Hands" day will be working on. We also had the chance to visit with a young man rehabbing his home and hearing some of his story. Martha and Mel showed us the massive destruction in Coralville and Iowa City, where there is still water on the ground (recent rains haven't been helping) and where the U's Art Department was virtually destroyed, but the U is determined to move forward with Fall classes. There are still homes that needed cleaning out, while others are beginning to be rehabbed. Massive damage to several blocks of businesses in Coralville will affect the area for a long time to come. We talked about the many jobs that have been lost. We look forward to today's visits which will begin in a few minutes when we head out to Oakville...and we look forward to tomorrow's meeting at Christ Church. If any of you have a question about today or tomorrow or anything else in regard to our shared ministry...I'm my cell at 319 750 0338! Blessings, ...Pat
Volunteers Needed for Sandbag Removal
by ann h.
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Volunteers Needed for Sandbag Removal Efforts on Friday and Saturday City of Iowa City, United Way of Johnson County, and AmeriCorps announce joint project Iowa City/IA – The United Way of Johnson County, the City of Iowa City, and AmeriCorps will coordinate a sandbag removal project in Parkview Terrace on Friday, July 18 and Saturday, July 19, from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and are requesting a large number of volunteers to help remove sandbags from the neighborhood. Volunteers need to report to the corner of Normandy and Manor Drive to sign in and receive specific work assignments. Volunteers will be removing sandbags from the floodwall and will need to wear long pants, boots or sturdy closed-toe shoes, and work gloves. Personal air filters and masks are recommended. The City of Iowa City is providing trucks for hauling and disposal of the sandbags. Snacks and water will be provided. For more information, please call the United Way of Johnson County Volunteer Center at 319-337-VOLS (8657).
"All Hands" Volunteer Re-Building Days - July 26 and August 2
Partnering with 2 Homeowners in the Birdland Neighborhood of Des Moines, Episcopal Parishes, and the Diocese of Iowa, the Cathedral Church of St. Paul invites you to participate in...
Re-Building Days
on Watson Street in the Birdland Neighborhood of Des Moines Saturday July 26th and Saturday August 2nd Gather at 9:00 AM at St. Paul's Cathedral parking lot, 9th and High Streets, Des Moines Skilled Builders will guide us -- but YOU can be of service (young people are welcome, but must be accompanied and supervised by a parent)
A list of items to bring with you will be provided next week.
Volunteers needed for "All Hands" Flood Clean-up Weekend in the Cedar Falls-Waterloo area!
When? Saturday, July 12 What time? 9:00 AM to meet and pray together before being dispatched to work sites (maps will be provided)
Where? Meet at Trinity Episcopal Parish (map) 4535 Kimball Avenue Waterloo
Lunch? Trinity, Waterloo is providing lunch and water for the work teams (For vegetarian lunch option, please call 319-232-4714)
What do I need to bring?
ESSENTIAL items for safe participation: Current tetanus shot! A signed Waiver & Release form (attached) Long-sleeve t-shirt Short-sleeve t-shirt Long pants (NO shorts!) Work boots or heavy shoes Leather or heavy work gloves Safety goggles Head covering (hat or cap) Insect repellant Sunscreen lotion N95 facemask with exhalation valve (available at most hardware or home improvement stores) Towel Clean Clothes (to change into at end of day) Small garbage bag (for your dirty clothes)
RECOMMENDED items, if you can bring them: Latex gloves Shovel /(scoop, snow or garden)/ Wheelbarrow Crow bar Drywall knife with extra blades Ice chest to hold lunches Large igloo-type water cooler and cups
Remember! Label anything you want to take home at the end of the day Donations of shovels, wheelbarrows, crow bars, hammers, drywall knives and extra blades are needed
Questions? Christine Havens at Trinity Episcopal Church, Waterloo 319-232-4714 OR
VISTA Corridor Recovery
Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) offers an opportunity to get
involved and help others with flood relief, while earning a monthly
living allowance of $833 and an educational benefit ranging from $875
to $4,725, based on length of service.
VISTA summer associates are needed now for Iowa City and Coralville.
7-week and 8-week positions are available immediately.
APPLY NOW or learn more about the AmeriCorps Recovery Effort at
www.VistaCorridorRecovery.org or call (319) 625-2156 or email Janie
Braverman at janie001@hotmail.com. (Please put "Flood Recovery" in
the subject line.)
News from FEMA
by ann h.
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We have a new 'Disaster Recovery Center' open. The previous center,
located at the Fairgrounds, will close 7/11.
Here is the new address:
Kirkwood Elementary
1401 9th St
Coralville
People who have questions regarding their FEMA application, or
disaster assistance in general should be encouraged to visit. Any
issues with an application can be addressed immediately on site via
computer. Experts from the FEMA programs, SBA, IRS, Social Security,
Public Health, Human Services, and other agencies are on hand to help
every day from 8 AM to 7 PM.
Toby Rice
FEMA Community Relations
Update from Habitat for Humanity
by ann h.
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If churches and agencies want a closer warehouse space to store (up
until October 1), please contact Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity at
319.337.8949 as they have ample warehouse space on Heinz Rd. in Iowa
City (but the space can only be accessed by appointment and
individuals in the public cannot access it).
At this time we have the following supplies available for free for
clean-up:
--Disinfectant/anti-mold concentrate
--Diaper wipes
--Paper plates, cups
--Garden hoses
Also, we have a crew of workers who will be looking for homes to muck
out by the end of this week. Our crew removes carpet, drywall and
furnishings and hauls it to the curb; then if the homeowner desires,
we can spray for mold.
Thanks!
Mark Patton
Executive Director
Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity
ph 319.337.8949 fax 319.354.3527
markpatton22@gmail.com
www.iowavalleyhabitat.org
Flood Response Needs and Resources
by ann h.
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Report from Countywide Flood Response Coordinating Committee of the Council of Religious Communities:
The Coordinating Committee will use United Way and the Crisis Center as community resources.
St. Andrew Presbyterian will be setting up showers and bunk beds to house up to 50 people from work teams. Coralville UMC will provide floor space, kitchen space and showers at the rec Center for work teams. Work teams should expect to bring their own food and tools. What are other faith communities doing?
The Red Cross Shelter at the Johnson County Fairgrounds will need to close soon for the fair to open. Carol and Mark Martin will continue to represent the CRC on the Coordinating Committee. Needs: Crisis Center needs food. WalMart ran a successful food drive last weekend and sent food to Crisis Center and North Liberty Food Banks. Their top 10 needed items (from their website) are: Canned Fruit, Canned Vegetables, Canned Meat, Canned Soup, Pasta, Jelly or Jam, Toilet Paper, Rice, Peanut Butter, and Juice. Diapers and baby wipes are also frequently requested. Persons and faith communities can donate clothing and household items to Goodwill or Crowded Closet in the name of the Crisis Center, and they will give the Crisis Center more vouchers for clothing and household items to distribute to persons in need.
Mark Martin will try to prepare a regular (maybe weekly) email, perhaps that can be used as a bulletin insert, identifying up-to-date needs.
Other needs include housing for UIHC outpatients here from out of town, classroom and meeting spaces for 30 to 300 people, and cash or gift cards, trucks to help move furniture, a source for N95 masks—need to be replaced frequently.
Resources:
Coralville UMC still has flood buckets
Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity now has warehouse space (until October 1) and concentrated disinfectant, buckets of baby wipes, can accept items on pallets for distribution. Can get truckloads of food and water if they have trucks. Suggested sources for trucks include Convoy of Hope and Heartland Express. Could split some materials with Cedar Rapids. Habitat has also taken over the Furniture Project, and will help with distribution. (No hide-a-beds, too hard to move.) Hope to loosen guidelines for furntiture give aways. Will have chair lift for stair case (removed from flooded home) to give away. Also, they have moisture detector that can be used in flooded homes. Finally, they have 10 lots on which to build homes for low-income and disabled persons.
Americorps, VISTA, and NCCC workers are coming.
United Way Volunteer Center is up and running. Can help match needs and resources.
Housing will be an issue for the about 80 persons still in the Red Cross Shelter when it closes. Can we get FEMA trailers like Cedar Rapids?
United Way will focus on making work assignments. Can CRC help with coordinating housing for work teams? Liz and Dana will work on coordinating a group to offer crisis intervention/pastoral care to flood victims and workers. Timeline for work We know the sequence (cleanup, rebuild) but not the timing. Should CRC Hire a coordinators to help identify volunteers, gather information on needs, represent CRC at meetings, coordinate space for workers, handle requests? Mark Martin may handle this at his current (low) rate of pay. The Mennonite are coming. So are the Episcopals. ToGather Together Update Collection of school supplies and clothing continues. May need to go to two clothing distribution sites. Coralville UMC can do Westside. St. Marks UMC can do Eastside. Supplies for the Normandy Drive neighborhood can be dropped off at Bev Jones home, corner of Normandy and Park Road. She says they need lots more gloves, brushes and masks.
Normandy Drive Neighborhood Need Help
by ann h.
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If anyone is looking to help with flood clean-up right away, the
Parkview Terrace/Normandy Drive neighborhood has immediate needs for
help cleaning out their homes. Coralville United Methodist Church
has many flood cleanup kits available. Call the church and let them
know if you would like to take any flood bucket kits.
To connect with residents in the flooded neighborhood who will have a
day-to-day handle on some of the neighborhood needs, you can contact:
Steve McGuire 530-5964 (cell)
Maurine Braddock: 351-8100 (w) or 321-4247 (cell)
Louise Wolf-Novak: 331-4421 (cell) or louisewolfknovak@gmail.com
Mark Patton from Habitat for Humanity has this update.
a) We have offered our services immediately to United Way for clean-
up work and we cleaned out an apartment yesterday at their
request.....volunteers and those who need help can contact Habitat
directly for assistance (see below).
b) Those who have need can call our 354-3527 to get an update on how
Habitat for Humanity will assist in clean-up.
c) Volunteers who want to help clean or cook food for volunteers who
will be cleaning should go to the Habitat web site
www.iowavalleyhabitat.org and click on "Volunteer" to learn how they
can sign up electronically. All who volunteer will be contacted by e-
mail or phone to learn the details of what clean-up is going on and
where they need to go.
Mark Patton
Executive Director
Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity
ph 319.337.8949 fax 319.354.3527
markpatton22@gmail.com
www.iowavalleyhabitat.org
"live simply so that others can simply live"
I'm sure all of you are already aware of this, but I wanted to make
sure this group is able to processes this information together...
As of July 12/13, our church and the food pantry space was flooded
with 5-6 feet of water. Quite honestly, our church isn't sure where
we are going to be located beyond one month from now, let alone 1-2
years from now! Needless to say, all of this puts a big halt on our
plans for the food pantry to be located in some of our church's
space. Unfortunately, I can't give you an idea of when we will have
more concrete plans. Lots of decisions have to be make futher
upstream (with FEMA, landord, insurance, etc) before we as a church
know what we are going to do. So it might be a while before we know
for sure about the food pantry space. If this group wants to move
forward with plans for the food pantry, not having it located in our
original space, that's fine. But do know that space around town is
very limited right now because of all the businesses and households
being temporarily relocated.
Please continue to keep our church in your prayers. There are so
many decisions to be made right now, and we feel such a need to reach
out to our community at a time like this. If you or anyone from your
church would be willing to assist with clean-up, we would appreciate
your help. We are trying to assemble work crews from 8am -9pm this
week Wed - Sat to help clean up in our building and in our neighbor's
buildings. If you would like to help and want more information,
please call Josh Rath (563-505-0808) who is coordinating this effort.
Please let me or Luke know if you have any questions, and we'll keep
you posted as we know more.
Thanks,
Holli Zieske
New Life Church,
July 4th Report from Cedar Rapids
by Dale Shultz.
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The first diocesan cleanup weekend was July 4-5 in Cedar Rapids. We worked on three houses in the Time Check neighborhood. These were 100 year old houses, that were very solidly built. They had taken 3-4 feet of water on the ground floor, so we had to remove the plaster below the water line, and pull up the flooring. They had plaster on lath, not drywall, so it took some pounding to get everything down. The flooring was hardwood, and it was really a shame to pull it up, but mold was growing in the space between it and the subfloor, so it had to go. At one house, the volunteers had to remove debris from the still-flooded basement, and at another we had to remove debris that had floated into the yard.
There were about a dozen volunteers on the first day, and roughly twice that many on the 5th. Dale S. and Helen K. attended from New Song, and there were other volunteers from all over the state, plus a big group from Nebraska. The group met at Grace Church in CR, and the coordinator was Lisa Butler from Christ Church. The Red Cross has a truck serving hot meals in the neighborhood.
In a flood-damaged house, the first task is to get the water out! This seems obvious, but it requires a lot of effort. Almost no one has electric power, so you have to acquire a generator. Most people were able to reconnect their existing sump pump, but if your pump was on battery backup, with a controller box, then it can be very challenging to get it reconnected to a outside power supply. Removing the plaster is next - everything below the water line has to go. Drywall comes right off when it is damp, but the older plaster and lath construction takes some work. Finally the flooring has to be removed, and the subfloor must be dried out and repaired. Outside siding has to be removed and cleaned too. Then everything has to be hosed down with bleach and anti-mildew treatment.
I learned that the location of the main electrical breaker box is crucial. As long as it did not go underwater, then an electrician can install a "rat tail" with electrical outlets, so there is some electrical power in the house. Otherwise, a generator is the only option. Restoring full power requires replacing all the sockets and switches that went underwater, plus inspection.
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