Our U.S. Disaster Relief Team began responding to the Midwest Tornadoes early Wednesday morning, gathering information from various churches, national disaster relief agencies and contacts with our FEMA relationships.

I called Cragfont Baptist Church in Castalian Springs, Tenn., and talked to Ron, their church administrator who has been working around the clock over the past 24 hours. 

“What is your greatest need?” I asked. 

“Heaters,” he quickly said. “We need heaters to keep the residents warm.”

We were in transit but our contact on the ground, Raymond, helped us locate, pick-up and deliver interior kerosene heaters for the residents of Castalian Springs.  Raymond located 19 kerosene heaters with fuel to power them and had them at the church waiting on our OB staff as they arrived.  We distributed the heaters and there were exactly 19 residents that were present or had told the church they needed heaters.  Tonight was in the mid 30s, so Operation Blessing helped these residents stay warm on this already painful night.

Residents are looking at possibly being without power for over a week, a local church member told us, so tomorrow the OB team will locate more heaters. 

The deadly string of storms was the worst outbreak in more than 20 years, sweeping across the southern states of Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee, killing more than 50 people.

Since last night, Cragfont Baptist Church has fed approximately 600 people including residents and volunteers. Volunteer teams are running throughout the community doing debris removal and youth are delivering meals to the elderly and those who are afraid to leave home.

In addition to kerosene heaters, Operation Blessing has provided a $10K cash grant to buy food for the hundreds of residents affected by the storm. Operation Blessing will also be sending in a tractor trailer truck filled with personal hygiene supplies, diapers, feminine products and other toiletries for the church to distribute throughout the community. 

One of the church staff members told us about an elderly lady who is afraid to come out of her home. Her husband died before the storms. She says all she has is her home and now one of her two dogs (one died in the storm.) The house is “unsafe” for her to live in. This is the first place we will send a skidster to remove debris and secure a tarp on her home. Her roof was completely blown off.

We are also working to assist affected families in Atkins, Arkansas, and send a truckload of relief supplies. Early Wednesday morning, I left a message at Atkins First Assembly of God to find out what their needs were. While in transit late in the evening the pastor’s wife called me. She said three families in her church lost everything and one 22-year-old man lost his mom, dad, and a sibling. She was still a bit overwhelmed but has a desire to help her community. They are already trying to get things for the families but want to do some large distributions of personal hygiene items.

In the city of Atkins, authorities estimated a total of 30 homes were completely destroyed across the small town; power lines have blocked access to the community along the Arkansas River in central Arkansas; about 19,000 people were left without power due to the aftermath of the storms; more than 100 people have reported to suffer injuries from Pope County with more than double the amount statewide.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 6th, 2008 at 3:13 pm and is filed under Jody Herrington, North America, US. Tornadoes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.