The S.C. Conference Treasurer's Office in conjunction with Conference Connectional Ministries Office has set up a special account for donations for relief efforts.
Please pass the word along to your churches and mission committees that they can make a donation through the treasurer's office. On the remittance report or check they should reference Emergency Disaster Relief with the number 755.
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| SC UMVIM ERT Disaster Response Up-Date for 3-22-2008 |
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As of late evening Saturday (3-22-2008) we considered the Early Response Phase of our church's response to the March 15 tornado storms over and the recovery phase now beginning. A few homes were left needing minor tarping and only chainsaw work in people's yards were now being needed. There is still a good bit of chainsaw work needed in yards and there will be sporadic homes needing a tarp, which we will provide assistance with if so needed. The EMA / Fire Departments in the areas of need will be able to handle most if not all of the request by themselves now. A UMC ERT Chainsaw team will be down Monday and Tuesday from Georgia helping in Allendale. I plan on sending all a more detailed report / story tomorrow evening.
Wednesday through Friday saw a lot of long hard work with chainsaw and mainly tarping of roofs from an up-state team led by Danny Thompson. |
Thursday through Saturday saw the same types of work being preformed by teams from Matthews and Lexington in North Carolina. They stayed through arrangements with Bethel Park, UMC in Denmark.
Saturday was a day filled with the true spirit of "Christian Love in Action" as an 11 person ERT Team from Lexington, SC; 3 person team from Pond Branch near Gilbert, Terry Rawls and Billy Robinson all joined together to make two teams. One team ran chainsaws for the entire day as the other team place tarps on 4 homes. Two of the jobs required extensive work covering the entire homes with heavy duty tarping material. Photos are attached showing some of the work.
All in all it was a very good and proficient response to which God used us in a mighty, wonderful, loving and caring way to be His "Hands & Feet" to a desperately hurting people - here in our own back yards! SC UMVIM ERT Teams were actively involved in this disaster for one solid week. I thank God for being with us as well as all of the victims and for allowing us the distinct honor and privilege of being used in His service!
Billy Robinson - SC UMVIM Disaster Coordinator
803-539-8429 |
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| SC UMVIM ERT Disaster Response Up-Date for 3-19-2008 |
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Wednesday, March 19, 2008 found the SC UMVIM ERT response focused primarily on the town and community surrounding Allendale, SC. Two teams worked side-by-side with the Baptist and Presbyterians just as we have been doing for the last two days. One team was from the up-state lead by Danny Thompson and a two-man team from Myrtle Beach led by Rev. George Olive, which I joined. It is really a wonderful thing to see how we can all put aside any little insignificant differences, pride or arrogant ways and unite as one in the name of Jesus Christ to help other during their times of such urgent need. Urgent seemed to be the cry today’s response since torrential rains and strong storms were forecasted. Each team focused on a variety of projects focused on tarping leaking roofs.
Two chainsaw jobs were completed and five homes had their roof’s repaired from replacing shingles and applying ply board to putting down felt paper / tarps. |
As it appears now, the large majority of true ERT work (applying tarps and cutting out egress routs) should be finished by the end of the day on Saturday. First of next week should see sporadic cases of the application of tarps but mostly the beginning of the recovery phase where help with cutting trees other than in the egress routs to a home and making home repairs.
As the storm front neared in the late evening a desperate cry for help came to secure tarps to a severely damaged home that still had it’s contents inside and was repairable. Up-State SC UMVIM ERT personnel work together with two Baptist volunteers to apply a 20’ x 60’ and a 12’ x 20’ tarp to a very devastated home at 2469 Barnwell Road near Allendale. An addition to the home had been completely blown away as well as two sheds and hundreds of trees plus several surrounding homes that was in the path of the massive F3 tornado. Tarps were rapidly secured into place as the first storms since the tornado were fast approaching on a big storm front that was producing torrential rain and excessive wind gust of up to 40 miles per hour! The constant wind and big gusts made it difficult to stand and most members simply stayed on their knees or laid down to apply button tabs and wooden striping to secure the tarps. Wind caught the largest tarp as it was being first laid down and it literally turned the huge tarp into a massive parasail that took all members including myself to hold down and not carry us up up and away.
One out of state team from North Carolina arrived around 10:00PM to Bethel Park UMC home in Denmark. They will be working for several days in Allendale. Other out of state teams are trying to round up volunteers. At least two teams will work back out of Allendale on 3-20-2008 and others from across the state are planning on coming Friday and Saturday then the first of the week. At least one team will be needed back in Branchville by Saturday. Rev. Mike Smith from Orangeburg led several youth working out of Branchville today and yesterday.
Please continue to keep all involved in your prayers from the victims to the responders for many are becoming weary and drained. Remember also as we enjoy our possessions and nice homes that there are those out there that are severely distraught after loosing so much. At the first home we went to today there was no way to safely do the job without putting our people in extreme risk and also causing further damage to a woman’s home due to a huge tree laying on and through the roof. She had no insurance, living in poverty, and due to the tree being where he electrical hook up is she had no electricity and would not be able to get it until the tree was moved. We tried to acquire some heavy equipment to help but were unsuccessful. She knew that major storms was on the way and that her home would once again have water flowing through the roof since their was no good way to channel it or apply any tarps. As we told her the bad news she began to cry and our hearts began to break along with hers. We gathered around her, held her, and prayed for her, then left for another mission assignment.
Billy Robinson – SC UMVIM Disaster Coordinator
803-539-8429 |
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| SC UMVIM ERT Disaster Response Up-Date for 3-18-2008 |
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On March 18, 2008 we responded back to the devastated Town of Branchville with three teams for an afternoon full of greatly needed work to weatherize four homes and do chainsaw work on two others. One team consisted of eleven members of Trinity UMC in Bamberg, another consisted of a 4 man Presbyterian Team from Orangeburg and then I had a 3-man team from North UMC in North, SC. Three of the homes were completely covered with tarps and one of the chainsaw jobs included removing a massive tree from a home using a backhoe and large chainsaws from elevated heights.
We knew some new needs would surface today in Branchville but did not expect this many. God provided the good volunteer labor and materials and all urgent needs were met. We will not be going back to Branchville on Wednesday, March 19, unless more dire needs arise but will focus a 5 to 6 team response to Allendale, SC were there is a huge amount of need and tensions are high due to the impending forecast of heavy rain and possible severe weather Wednesday evening.
One 8-person team from Pond Branch UMC near Gilbert, SC responded to the Elgin area on the afternoon of March 18. They place tarps on 2 home’s roofs and on a shed. They then moved to a desperate cry for help at 2839 Neely Wingard Road near Batesburg / Leesville. There they applied tarping and tin to the top of a home that had it’s entire roof blown away. The team worked securing a good covered roof until after 10:00PM. They report that most of the emergency need in the Elgin area is near complete. |
The call has been made to Northern Georgia and North Carolina to send several teams each to help with the relief effort and they are putting out a call for volunteers at this time. Rev. Bruce Palmer has graciously taken on the vital task of help me by becoming the ERT Teams contact and basically also a resource / logistics person (along with Lee McMillian who has been a great resource). He is now the contact for anyone wanting to volunteer including out of state responses. All this has come at just the right time, as I was about to start pulling my hair out. God always has a way of coming through in His perfect timing, as is the fact with us. Just as I was literally running out of the means to continuing filling my truck with gas (I have been burning a tank of gas a day) and purchasing other needed items - people and our conference has come through with some dire needed funds. Praise be to God and I thank all who have given whatever they can including the support from our conference and UMVIM leadership.
Billy Robinson – SC UMVIM Disaster Coordinator
803-539-8429 |
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| SC UMVIM ERT Disaster Response Up-Date for 3-17-2008 |
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One team (mainly from North UMC) responded back to Branchville for a huge tree removal from one home and also the application of a large tarp to a severely roof damaged home. We assisted Red Cross and then moved on to Allendale to assist another team (consisting of members of Platt Springs UMC) with tarping of roofs. A total of five roofs had tarps placed on them (several had the complete roofs covered) in the Allendale area on or near Concord Church Road.
One Team (Prosperity UMC) responded back to the Prosperity area to tackle a huge chainsaw job for a severely damaged yard and home, which took most of the day to complete.
On 3-16-2008 a team lead by Rev. Fred Buchanan did work on several homes in the Greenwood area including placing tarps on the damaged roof of Bethel UMC. |
The majority of tarp and chainsaw work is done in the Branchville and Prosperity / Newberry areas. There are several homes in theses areas that continue to call for help after their insurance adjusters have inspected their homes – so we will have to continue to make some trips to these areas. The worst damaged area remaining in need to our and the Red Crosses knowledge is the Allendale area. We saw a lot of massive tree, home and tornado damage throughout the area today that will probably take several more days of ERT work to make the salvageable homes safe, sanitary and secure. Our main focus for now will be the Allendale area. Tomorrow we will be sending one team to the Elgin area and one team back to Branchville. Wednesday we plan on having at least 3 teams in Allendale. I have contacted SEJ-UMVIM and MERCI in North Carolina about sending three teams if possible due to the large amount of damage and the fact that our teams are getting burnt out and have to go back to work. There focus will be the Allendale area and possibility staying at Bethel Park UMC in Bamberg.
I thank God for the safety He has provided to our teams and pray that He continues to look over all. I am greatly appreciative to the volunteers who have so unselfishly given of themselves to help other during their times of dire need. I am also appreciative of the words of encouragement and thanks we have received and give the glory to God.
We have already gone through $2000 of the FEMA style tarps that they do not give away unless it is declared a federal disaster. We have almost depleted our supply as well as all of our slats and much other supplies. We are using Red Cross 12’ x 16’ tarps but the large tarps described above is what we really need. Mike Hutchins is making us some slats but more will be needed. I do pray that this disaster opens our church’s eyes to the importance of missions and that we have many more true and dedicated volunteers to join, who we can depend on in the immediate aftermath of a disaster.
Thanks for your prayers and God Bless!
Billy Robinson – SC UMVIM Disaster Coordinator
803-539-8429 |
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