Restoring Ordinary Life
An Organization of the Washington Faith Based Community
Serving Effectively When a Disaster Strikes
By Dave Baylor,
Diocesan Coordinator for Disaster Preparedness and Response
and Episcopal Representative on the WIDRO Board
Most residents of Washington might be surprised to learn that we historically rank in the top percentile of states with disasters that qualify for a Presidential Disaster Declaration (Most disasters in Washington do not reach a level of damage that warrants a presidential declaration, the key element that makes federal help available to those impacted by the event).
Even with a presidential declaration, assistance to disaster victims through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other federal sources is much more limited than the public imagines. One of the most common misconceptions is that government—federal, state or local—is intended or able to make whole the losses someone suffers in a disaster. In fact, in 2007, the maximum assistance a family could receive from FEMA was only $28,800, irrespective of the actual losses sustained (This has been raised to $30,300 for disasters that occur in 2009, but is not retroactive to previous disasters.). Nationally, the average assistance from FEMA is closer to $5,000 per family.
In addition, most of us don’t realize that our state constitution basically prohibits state and local governments from giving financial assistance and many other forms of help to disaster victims, based solely on their losses from the disaster (Some victims, however, may qualify for some forms of state or local help under existing programs).
How, then, does a family recover from a disaster like last December’s devastating storm? For most families, recovery will be based primarily on their own resources. But for a substantial number of survivors who either don’t have those resources already or who may not have access to the financial help they need, recovery will likely depend almost entirely on extensive assistance from the voluntary sector, and especially the faith-based community. Episcopalians from this diocese who have traveled to New Orleans and Mississippi on post-Katrina rebuilding trips will probably recognize this intrinsically from their experience and observations on the ground on the Gulf Coast.
The December 2007 storm impacted most of Western Washington, but only 10 counties qualified for the presidential declaration, primarily along the Pacific Coast, the Columbia River and in interior Southwest Washington. Most of us remember the level of devastation experienced by Lewis County, thanks in part to TV news coverage of the dramatic shutdown of I-5 in the Centralia-Chehalis area, and later televised reports of efforts to help specific individuals and families. But other communities also experienced significant damage, especially Pacific and Grays Harbor Counties, as well as portions of Wahkiakum, Thurston, Mason and Kitsap counties. Most of these received little or no news coverage at all.
For this disaster, FEMA received roughly 10,700 applications for assistance, concentrated in Lewis, Grays Harbor, Pacific, Mason and Thurston counties. But fewer than 200 of these applicants received the maximum grant of $28,800, and most grants were substantially less, based upon the homeowner’s qualifying damages and other criteria. Again, remember that government assistance at the federal, state or local level is not intended nor adequately funded to make families whole. The basic premise is that most people will be able to rely on insurance proceeds and other personal financial resources to rebuild or restore their home and property. Moreover, for some of these families, recovery may actually begin within a day or two after the event.
However, for several hundred individuals and families in Southwest Washington uprooted or displaced by this past December’s storm, the reality is that whatever limited government financial assistance they may have received falls far short of what is needed to bring them back to anything resembling their pre-flood situation. Many of these face almost overwhelming obstacles to getting back into homes badly damaged or even left as uninhabitable by the floods or the gale-force windstorm. And of course, such difficulties can pose an even greater problem for people who were part of a vulnerable population to begin with, or who might have been living just at the margin prior to the disaster.
So where do these neighbors find the hope and help they so desperately need – and deserve? In general, many will receive some assistance in the days immediately following the event itself, when news coverage is focused on the visual dimension of the disaster for each daily news cycle, and the public typically responds with a generous outpouring of financial and in-kind donations. During this time also, literally thousands of volunteers typically stream into the affected communities to help with anything needed. But as all emergency managers, disaster professionals, and affected communities know all too well, that public interest fades soon after the daily reports disappear from our television screens.
The challenge, then, is to establish a means to continue to develop and direct recovery assistance to the local community for as long as it takes to get everyone back on their feet and in their homes, and not just those able to do this for themselves. Those who have helped in rebuilding efforts on the Gulf Coast know that the primary source of help for families unable to manage this on their own comes almost entirely from voluntary organizations, and particularly from the faith-based community.
Some organizations such as the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, Catholic Community Services, the Latter Day Saints and others typically provide critical assistance during the immediate response phase of a disaster (the first few days and weeks following the event). Conversely, individual congregations and major faith- based entities such as the United Methodist Committee on Relief, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Lutheran Disaster Response, Mennonite Disaster Service, the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee and, of course, Episcopal Relief and Development are the principal source of help for communities in dealing with the unmet needs of disaster victims over the longer term of the recovery phase.
The primary mechanism for addressing these unmet needs over the long run is a community-based, interfaith long-term recovery organization, or LTRO. Based upon two closely-linked models developed by Church World Service and NVOAD (National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, of which ERD is a member), LTROs are autonomous, local not-for-profit corporations with a board comprised of local faith leaders and other community representatives. The primary commitment is to address two fundamental questions: “Who’s hurting?” and “What are we going to do about it?” The LTROs focus on helping with the recovery needs of the most vulnerable of their neighbors, with their primary activities emphasizing case management and client advocacy; fund-raising and management of both financial contributions and donated goods and services; spiritual and emotional care; and coordination of actual construction activities by volunteers from within the community and from the outside who want to help with the rebuilding effort.
A grant from Episcopal Relief and Development, and additional support from the bishops’ appeal immediately following the December storm – together with similar funding from other denominations and private contributions – has played a crucial role this past year in helping to establish the five LTROs now in place in Lewis, Grays Harbor, Pacific, Mason and Thurston counties. These five LTROs are models of ecumenical and interfaith cooperation, with the leadership of individual LTROs involving both clergy and lay, and representation from Episcopal, Lutheran, American Baptist, United Methodist, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, the Salvation Army and several independent congregations in their respective counties. Some of these LTROs even include folks with opposing political backgrounds and persuasions, who nevertheless unite in their compassion for their neighbors, and in their commitment to help restore them to safe, secure and sanitary homes.
Just as recovering from hurricanes Katrina and Rita - and now Gustav and Ike – will continue for many years to come, as we mark the first anniversary of last December’s storm it is equally important to recognize that we also have disaster victims with similar needs right here in our own backyard who also may require the same kind of help for some time yet. Probably the best perspective on where our recovery efforts stand at the one year mark comes from Sharon Gober, an American Baptist who serves as Project Director for the Lewis County LTRO, which has a current caseload of some 215 families and individuals:
We are seeing a change in the needs of our families as we move into the fall. Early on, there was furniture, building supplies and other donated items available. These helped out many of the families, but now there are more basic needs.
“Over the summer, whatever savings they had went for house repairs. Seldom did insurance and/or FEMA assistance cover everything they needed. Now that the cold is setting in, some of these families have few resources, and heating and electrical bills are stretching budgets.
“We are also seeing families who are hungry. They can meet their mortgage payments, but have nothing left for food. These are people who don't know what resources are out there, who have never before had to access food banks or other social service agencies.
“We are also finding people who have been living in tents all summer, or who lost travel trailers - which were all they had - and now have no where to go. We also have families still living in the homes that were flooded and where mold has taken over.
Gober concludes: “With the holidays coming on we are trying to link our families to agencies and programs they may not know about. There are probably organizations that can provide assistance with utilities, and others that offer services or resources that can help. Our emphasis continues to be to bring agencies and other organizations like churches together in the same room, to help us all to know what is out there, to understand where there may be holes in services, and perhaps who is willing to step into the breech to help.
“We know that few if any organizations or churches can provide everything our families need, but we also know that everyone can do something.”
Our Episcopal commitment to help – at the individual, parish and Diocesan level, as well as through ERD – is linked directly to our baptismal covenant. With the deadline for this issue of the Voice falling a day after the Feast of All Saints and baptisms in many of our churches, two of the elements of this covenant that immediately spring to mind this day are, “Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?” and “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?” Our answer to each, of course, is that we will, “with God’s help.”
Seeking and serving Christ in all persons, and striving for justice and dignity for the victims of floods, hurricanes, windstorms, forest fires, etc. lie at the core of the Church’s work in disaster response and recovery – in our own communities, as well as globally. Some could compare our initial response to a disaster to a 100-meter or even a 10,000-meter dash. Long term disaster recovery, however, much more resembles a marathon. Long-term recovery is a work of endurance on the part of the volunteers, and certainly for those whom they are trying to help. Fortunately, endurance is also one of the gifts of the Spirit within our Episcopal community.
If your congregation is interested in renewing a commitment to help the victims of this past year’s storm, or for earlier or future disasters, or if you want to assist with the work of a specific LTRO, please contact Dave Baylor, Diocesan Coordinator for Disaster Preparedness and Response, dbaylor.erd@comcast.net or 206-523-5662.