Hurricane affects Disaster Response project in Florida.

"Hurricane Dennis forced us to batten down the hatches and close down the project the week of July 10," reported Jane Yount, coordinator of the General Board's Disaster Response program. The program has a rebuilding project ongoing in Florida following the series of hurricanes that hit the state in 2004. "Thankfully, Dennis didn't wreak as much havoc as Ivan, but more people are now in need of assistance," Yount said. The current Disaster Response project is located in Pensacola and in Escambia County, which Yount said is the poorest county in Florida and the 17th poorest in the nation.

"The hurricane season is coming up on its eighth named storm," Yount added. "This kind of hurricane activity so early in the season is unprecedented and serves as a reminder that the world is an unpredictable place. But we can take heart, for we have victory over the world in Christ!" For updated hurricane predictions for the year, the Disaster Response staff recommend www.disasternews.net/news/news.php?articleid=2744.

Yount highlighted volunteer needs in Florida, where volunteers are scheduled only through Oct. 1. "The entire month of October is open for anyone who feels called to go for a week or two," she said. She called on district disaster coordinators to recruit volunteer groups for two-week commitments if possible. Work at the Florida project consists mainly of repairs to water-damaged sections of homes, including drywall, floors, insulation, and siding. "As is often the case in many low-income coastal areas where older homes have been battered by previous storms, some of the repairs may have been needed prior to the latest storm," Yount said. "Some pre-existing damage may need to be repaired in order to make the current storm repairs more durable and meet local building codes."

A Disaster Response rebuilding project in Hallam, Neb., following tornado damage, closed on July 29. Brethren Volunteer Service workers Larry and Sandee Kitzel have stayed on longer to shut down the project. Larry Kitzel "reports that we ended in good standing with all the homeowners we have assisted, and all are very appreciative of our work," Yount said.

A new project in Belmont County, Ohio, repairing and rebuilding homes following flooding, continues this summer. "Southeastern Ohio was hit with three severe floods," Yount said, "first by the remnants of Hurricane Ivan in Sept. 2004, a second time in December, and the third in January, caused by rain and rapid snow melt. In Belmont County, dozens of homes along the Ohio River and its tributaries were destroyed and over 150 more were heavily damaged." The Brethren project began in June. Work to be done includes demolition; interior repairs such as drywall, insulation, and floors; vinyl siding, decks, and steps; and rebuilding from the ground up.

For more information about volunteer opportunities in Florida and Ohio, please contact a district disaster coordinator or call the Disaster Response office at 800-451-4407.

Yount also repeated a request for a volunteer tool coordinator team to come to the program's New Windsor, Md., office to work at standardizing the tools in tool trailers and to test and replace tools as necessary. Contact Roy Winter at rwinter_gb@brethren.org for more information.

Source: 8/3/2005 Newsline
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