When disaster struck in St. Louis, Missouri United Methodists were ready to respond. Read on to learn how Missouri United Methodists have both stepped up and served and readied themselves for the next time disaster strikes.
Responding to St. Louis Flooding
On August 4, the U.S. National Weather Service in St. Louis posted that the previous two weeks were the “wettest two-week period in STL ever.” Over one-third of the area’s normal annual rain (41.70") occurred between July 24 and August 4. The record-shattering rains affected hundreds of homes and cars. Damage assessment teams examined 1,338 homes and found that more than 750 of them had “sustained major damage.” Of 206 businesses inspected, 131 had sustained major damage, according to Gov. Mike Parson’s office.
Missouri Disaster Response was in St. Louis the week of August 1 volunteering at the Multi-Agency Resource Centers. Multi-Agency Resource Centers (MARC) are organized by the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), the St. Louis Area and St. Charles Community Organizations Active in Disaster, local volunteer and faith-based organizations, and other state/local agencies. MARCs are one-stop shops that pull together recovery resources in communities impacted by disasters. The Missouri Conference provided tarps and cleaning supplies to families affected by flooding. Over the course of the five MARCs, 1,744 households assisting 4,616 members of those households were assisted.
As the focus shifts to long-term recovery, Early Response Team Trained individuals are needed to help with cleanup and rebuilding. We can accommodate individuals or teams with a 1-ERT-trained person to 1-non-ERT-trained person ratio who are interested in serving. Please contact Conference Disaster Response Coordinator Scott Burdin at [email protected] to learn more about this service opportunity.
Missouri United Methodist Churches Respond with Gifts
Disaster response takes multiple forms, and one of those includes financial gifts. We celebrate the generosity of the following churches, who sent just over $3,000 to support flood recovery efforts in the St. Louis area:
- College (Warrenton)
- First (Excelsior Springs)
- Gravois Mills
- Missouri (Columbia)
- Savannah
- Zion (St. Louis)
Local Church Disaster Response Asset Mapping
One piece of the readiness puzzle is understanding where assets are located. When a disaster hits, information gathered ahead of time makes it easier to coordinate the help that affected individuals and local organizations need. This data has proven essential during recent flood recovery work in St. Louis.
Conference Disaster Response Coordinator Scott Burdin is working to get a better idea of where United Methodist-related resources lie in Missouri. The Local Church Disaster Response Resources Form will help us identify churches who are willing to host teams, have showers, have professionally trained church members (doctors, nurses, counselors, etc.) who are willing to help, have equipment staging areas and more.
Work with your local church to fill out the form linked below. You can start the form, submit it and re-access it later to make updates. If your church does not have any of the assets listed, or is not interested in helping, please note that on the form. All information is helpful!
Fall Early Response Team Trainings
In partnership with UMCOR, we hosted an in-person Early Response Team Training in late August. We celebrate the 15 individuals that completed the requirements and earned their ERT badges!
Early Response Teams fill a specific need in the days after a disaster to clean out flood-damaged homes, remove debris, place tarps on homes, and otherwise help to prevent further damage, while providing a caring Christian presence. Missouri has a robust set of ERT-certified responders who are often called upon first to serve in neighboring states and across the United Methodist connection.
Interested in becoming ERT certified? Put your name on the wait list! Our remaining fall trainings are full, and we’re working to plan future ERT trainings and will contact you when a training opportunity becomes available.
Stay connected with Missouri Conference Disaster Response efforts. Information about opportunities to serve and train will be posted in these places:
