Lots of Work Left Following Last Summer’s Hurricanes

Eight months ago Hurricane Harvey roared into the Houston, Tex., area from the Gulf of Mexico, dumping 52 inches of rain in three days and causing 68 deaths and $125 billion in damage.

Then Hurricane Irma on Aug. 31, 2017, began ripping through several Caribbean islands, cut through a portion of Puerto Rico on Sept. 6, and landed in southwestern Florida on Sept. 11, where it caused tornadoes and widespread flooding and damage to the Florida Keys as well as the mainland.

After causing damage and death across the Caribbean, a third major hurricane of the season, Maria, made landfall in Puerto Rico early on Wed., Sept. 20. The category 4 storm smashed houses, killed nearly 70 people, and significantly damaged the electrical grid. Parts of the country still remain without power.

World Renew representatives and volunteers have responded and continue to respond in the aftermath of these storms.

Because of the magnitude of the destruction and the widespread geographic area affected, World Renew leaders anticipate being involved in recovery efforts for three years or more throughout Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico.

So far, in its reports from the first six months after the hurricanes, World Renew Disaster Response Services (DRS) has

• provided home repair services in eight communities in Texas and Puerto Rico.
• connected 480 individuals and families with local support to help them in their recovery in Florida and Texas through unmet needs assessments.
• helped 26 families clean out their damaged homes.
• set strong foundations throughout Florida, Texas, and Puerto Rico to provide long-term recovery services for hurricane survivors and their communities.
• provided financial grants to local recovery groups.

Hurricane Harvey

A few months after Hurricane Harvey, a 25-member World Renew needs-assessment team arrived in Brazoria County, Tex., to survey residents about their unmet needs after the storm. The volunteers were ready to get started on the first day of work, but a rare ice storm in Texas delayed the process for two days.

The team talked with people at walk-in centers, made phone calls, walked door-to-door, and visited 23 hotels to find survivors who were still displaced from their homes but renting rooms in the local area.

After finishing the assessment, the team brought the needs it discovered to the attention of the local recovery group, and they are working with survivors to address these situations.

For instance, flooding from Hurricane Harvey and the humid Texas climate have combined to make mold a major consideration in rebuilding and in assessing people’s health. Often people have virtually no choice but to live in unsafe conditions.

World Renew volunteers often find people who have respiratory and other health issues who they are living in damaged, waterlogged homes and can’t afford to move. World Renew and local nonprofits then work at cleaning the damaged homes, removing mold, and rebuilding with health-safe materials.

While working in the area, World Renew has also been able to connect people in need with resources.

For instance, Alejandro is a resident who lives with physical disabilities from a construction accident. After losing all of his belongings in the hurricane, Alejandro was evacuated from his home for two months.

When he returned, his landlord refused to make repairs to the home. Alejandro has nowhere else to go, so he is trying to pay from his disability check to fix his rental. World Renew volunteers talked to Alejandro while assessing needs in his neighborhood and connected him and his landlord to the local recovery organization for help.

World Renew is especially grateful for outside help and has been reminded that when a group of young people get behind a project, amazing things can happen.

On Sept. 7, 2017, students at Timothy Christian School in Chicago hosted an Epic Burger Battle to raise funds for Hurricane Harvey response in Texas through World Renew.

Although the meal and preceding soccer game were threatened by rain, the food sale resulted in donations totaling $6,000.

To make the project a success, parents, local businesses, and the community supported the event. Volunteers served four kinds of burgers prepared by an executive chef, and attendees voted for the best of the bunch—with a crab cake slider taking first place.

In addition, parents and other patrons donated directly to the cause through the school, collecting another $5,000. A World Renew donor then matched Timothy’s $11,000, resulting in $22,000 in donations to help World Renew.

In Port Arthur, Tex., World Rnew has helped to tear out waterlogged walls and flooring, said regional managers Mark and Carol Martin. “We are waterproofing, fixing pipes and electrical lines, and repairing heating and cooling units so that people can return to their homes quickly and safely.”

Hurricane Irma

Hurricane Irma developed into a huge storm, measuring more than 400 miles across at some points. The sheer size of the storm path made it difficult, early on, to get an accurate picture of the damage it caused, said Eric and Nancy Johnson, regional managers for World Renew DRS .

Irma claimed 47 lives as it tore through the Caribbean and swerved north through Florida and Georgia. The damage from the storm was so great that the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved more than $87 million in assistance programming throughout the state of Florida.

World Renew is looking for volunteers, particularly with some construction experience, to help in the hurricane cleanup and repair in Florida. In these relief efforts, trustworthy electricians, plumbers, and carpenters can be hard to find, and scams are common after a disaster.

Puerto Rico

World Renew is working with a historically Christian Reformed Church (CRC) in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, founded by a CRC missionary many years ago. Although the church is no longer officially a part of the denomination, the pastor in Fajardo reached out to their founder, Ron Sprik, after Hurricane Maria hit, and he connected them with World Renew.

Len and Carrie Blauwkamp, World Renew DRS regional managers for Puerto Rico, have met with the church leaders. And through them the couple met Ramón, an elderly man who has lung cancer and few resources.

The congregation in Fajardo is in touch with Ramón and 20 other families who need help rebuilding their homes.

“Ministry in Puerto Rico after Hurricanes Maria and Irma involves special challenges and opportunities. We are excited to have quality local partners with which to work,” said Bob Laarman, World Renew DRS director.

“Those who volunteer with World Renew on the island will have interesting experiences and learn a lot.”

In Puerto Rico, Linda is a single parent who is raising five of her children by herself, reported George and Helen Andringa, World Renew volunteers.

After the hurricanes, Linda felt lost and hopeless. She was in danger of losing custody of her kids because they were homeless.

The Andringas said World Renew, in partnership with the Adventist Disaster and Reconstruction Agency in Puerto Rico, met with Linda, Ramón and others, and with the help of volunteers they are building new homes. Now Linda has a new three-bedroom home for her family that can better withstand the high winds of Caribbean storms.

World Renew has launched a new campaign to help address the many ongoing needs following hurricane storm surges in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The campaign is titled “Be the next surge . . . a surge of hope in the Lord.”

For more information and to get involved, see #jointhesurge on Twitter, volunteer to repair homes, and click DONATE to give financial support.