CUMC Flood Relief

There are some things that we know about. natural disasters and recovering from them.  We know that the initial disaster is an emergency effort and the focus is saving lives and staying safe.  Everyone is worried about each other, and we tend to put property damage on the back burner while we rescue our neighbors.  But as soon as the disaster is over, we begin the relief process.  People rally around one another, the community shows up to clean and assist in the aftermath, relief organizations like the United Way and the Red Cross begin the process of figuring out what to do with the displaced people and the volunteers, and churches take up their tools and head to the devastated areas.  That relief process lasts, typically, about ten times the duration of the disaster.  The actual flooding in middle Iowa lasted about 10 days, so the relief effort will last about 100 days.  That date is approaching quickly.  The houses in the area, for the most part, are gutted and cleaned out.  The news coverage is over.  The politicians are making speeches and taking tours in other areas.  We are entering the recovery part of the effort to rebuild our community.  That part lasts about ten times the duration of the relief phase, so we are looking at a 1000 day recovery, give or take.  The United Way is moving on to their fall fundraiser, the Red Cross has closed up the temporary shelters and is winding down the food distribution, and churches are beginning to go on about their business.  But there are needs in our community that are lingering and will not be addressed until we address them.  We have the opportunity to continue to bring hope as the other organizations and volunteers are stepping out.  Now is the time for Coralville UMC to take ownership of our piece of the recovery.

I will be addressing the congregation in September and planning a congregational discussion to figure out where we go from here.  If anyone is interested in helping engage  the conversation or would like to know how they can get involved, contact me and let’s get started.  I am attending meetings over the next few weeks, and I would love to have some company.

This group came to us from a couple of small churches in the Hope United Methodist Parish.  They arrived on Wednesday, Juy 16th and worked at a house on Isaac Walker Road.  The Mennonites had been to the house the previous day and had torn out most of the floor and walls, so we set about cleaning the river debris from beneath the floor joists and removing nails and insulation that was soaked through.  It was a pleasure to meet this homeowner and a great pleasure to meet and work with these women.  They are an inspiration for service and mission, and I hope to see them again as we move into the rebuilding phase.

I have been keeping some archives of pictures and stories as we have traveled through the process of recovery from the recent flooding.  I am not sure that I can get it all in the right order, chronologically, I mean, so I will just tell the stories that we have encountered and try to give a general idea of when they happened.  Thanks for bearing with me on this project and I hope that this will be a great place for sharing our stories and struggles as we move ahead.

Bryan.