CRWRC Responds to Fay Deluge in Florida

CRWRC Newsroom | August 25, 2008

Slow-moving tropical storm Fay is beginning to drop rain over the Florida panhandle today, say managers from CRWRC Disaster Response Services (DRS) who just returned from the Lake Okeechobee area Wednesday night.

Fred and Mary Visser were traveling to Belle Glade, FL, early this week to assess ongoing reconstruction needs from Hurricanes Jeanne and Francis (2004) and Hurricane Wilma (2005) for CRWRC when tropical storm Fay began to drop more than two feet of rain on the northern section of the state.  The result is a federal disaster declaration covering all 67 Florida counties.

CRWRC has had active assessment and reconstruction volunteers in Florida on a regular basis for more than a decade. In addition, CRWRC-DRS has deployed nearly 5,000 volunteers to US disaster sites this year, including Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and floods in Indiana and Iowa. These trained and dedicated “green shirts” (known for their trademark green t-shirts) donated nearly a half-million volunteer hours to US disaster survivors in 2007.

Visser predicts a CRWRC-DRS presence in the Belle Glade-Lake Okeechobee area through February 2009. There are 26 temporary shelters set up across the currently affected areas, with Fay causing 50 million dollars in damage in one nearby county according to the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA).

The Vissers met with the Palm Beach County Coalition on Wednesday this week in an area where Fay also spun off several tornadoes. Visser said that protective blue tarps are beginning to appear on roofs of local homes and businesses in an attempt to keep out the weather and prevent further damage to both structures and contents.

“We don’t know yet the number of uninsured home and business owners additionally affected by Fay,” Visser said. “That’s what we’ll determine in our upcoming assessment. We’ll be able to get a better handle on what the needs are when the water begins to return to normal levels and we can see exactly what the damage is.” Visser also said that some of the homes and businesses previously damaged in 2004 and 2005 are now not only unrepaired, but also flooded.

CRWRC targets its disaster programs toward the uninsured, elderly, disabled, and those who are denied help from government or other agencies. The Green Shirts go door-to-door, interviewing family members to identify survivors’ needs, and provide a listening ear and the comfort of their Christian faith.

Visser said that CRWRC volunteers completed 43 major repairs in the Belle Glade, FL, area in the first four months of 2008. This week’s meetings with the Palm Beach Long-Term Recovery Organization identified another 50 homes approved for repair.

Fay is expected to slowly move westward from the Florida Panhandle to Georgia and Alabama, dropping an additional four to12 inches of rain over the weekend.

CRWRC is accepting donations for tropical storm Fay survivors.

Donate online today, designating your funds to “Hurricanes 2008”.

By Mail/Phone:

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Members of the press wishing to speak with CRWRC-DRS director Bill Adams can call 616-560-2782, or CRWRC-US media contact Beth DeGraff at 616-648-7821 to arrange an interview with Fred and Mary Visser.