HOME | e-HUM | BISHOP | SUBSCRIBE | HUM NEWS ARCHIVES
  ARCHIVES | DOWNLOADS | ALERT

August 23, 2004

Florida United Methodists count the cost of hurricane

By Tita Parham
United Methodist News Service

ORLANDO ? Days after Hurricane Charley made landfall in Florida, killing 16 people and causing billions of dollars in damage from Ft. Myers to Daytona Beach, the Florida Conference established a special fund and operations center to help affected communities.

Meeting with representatives from the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) this past week, Florida Bishop Timothy W. Whitaker and the conference disaster response team leaders decided to set up a special fund to assist survivors.

The money generated from the fund will be used to provide grants directly to families and individuals, pay for supplies and equipment and pay a staff to oversee recovery efforts, according to a letter sent by Whitaker to conference clergy and laity. He said UMCOR will assist this effort by making additional funds available from its general appeal known as Hurricanes 2004 Advance #982410.

UMCOR had already arranged to provide the conference with a $10,000 emergency grant as of the meeting date, said Tom Hazelwood, UMCOR's director of emergency services, following the meeting with conference disaster response leaders.

Conference leaders also created the Florida Storm Recovery Center at the Florida Conference Center in Lakeland as the operations center for the conference's response. Hazelwood and other UMCOR staff have already begun working there to help disaster response team members direct the conference's efforts. One of the responsibilities of the center's workers will be to match volunteers with community needs. A concern expressed at the Aug. 16 meeting was the ability to put volunteers eager to begin work into areas where they can be most effective.

"They're eager to get started ? but we have to have a target place for them to go," said the Rev. Tom Norton, pastor of Christ United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg and the St. Petersburg District's disaster response coordinator.

Norton said that district coordinators and superintendents were still in the process of assessing the extent of damage in their communities on Aug. 18 because a number of areas, particularly rural neighborhoods, are still without electricity and do not have a way to communicate with district offices.

"We have 5,700 square miles of disaster. Trying to get reports out of that has been incredible," he said. "It's going to take another five to 10 days of people assessing and reporting."

Norton is assisting with conference-wide efforts so the Rev. David Harris, the Florida Conference's disaster response coordinator, can focus his efforts on the Arcadia community, one of the hardest hit because of its close proximity to the hurricane's landfall in the Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda areas of Florida's southwest coast. Harris is pastor at Trinity United Methodist Church there, which is serving as a point of operations to the area.

The conference's recovery efforts and response will focus on three priority areas: repairing church property, ministering to clergy and their families and caregivers, and assisting communities, said the Rev. Anne Burkholder, the conference's director of connectional ministries.

Several groups are already in place to begin working on the second priority of recovery, including the conference's newly formed "Shade and Fresh Water" ministry that provides opportunities for clergy and their families to deal with life situations and rejuvenate, and conference pastors who have gone through critical incidence training.

Burkholder reported that damage to church property is not as great a concern as the other two priorities because the conference's self-insurance program will provide funds for repairs. She said adjusters have been on alert and working in the field to assess damages.

"We've got the damage covered," Jim Severance, the conference's risk manager, said. "Our biggest problem is finding qualified contractors."

Severance said damage has generally been to roofs, with tree debris causing holes and structural damage and wind ripping off panels and shingles. Churches along the I-4 corridor, particularly in the Central Florida area, also are dealing with substantial debris cleanup from downed or snapped trees, many of them decades-old oaks.

Severance said First United Methodist Church in Kissimmee was one of the hardest hit, with damage to one building's second story roof that caused leaks reaching the first floor.

About 40 churches have reported claims, with damages estimated at $150,000 in the middle range and $400,000 at the high end, according to Peter Bookholt, an adjuster and contractor voluntarily assessing damages across the state and a member of the conference's risk management committee. He said it's too early to give an estimate for total damages, but claims have varied from "missing shingles to devastated."

Damage to churches in Arcadia was "not too bad," but several in Punta Gorda had damage estimated in the $300,000 to $400,000 range, including Christ and Cleveland United Methodist churches, according to Bookholt. Water damage is a big issue, he said. "When you lose a roof and blow out windows, it really makes a mess."

Grace United Methodist Church in Cape Coral received significant damage to its roof and interior and lost its steeple. Aloma and Shingle Creek United Methodist churches in the Orlando District also lost steeples.

Severance encourages churches not to complete repairs on their own. The first step, he said, is for a contractor to secure the roof to prevent further damage or leakage, as well as set up dryers and dehumidifiers to lessen water damage. The second step is roof repair.

Severance said churches should make an inventory of all damaged contents, from Bibles to candles to music, which are covered by insurance. He also encourages churches to document hours worked by members and volunteers clearing debris, adding those hours can be paid as an insurance claim at minimum wage.

Meeting the needs of people in the community will depend on the assessments coming in from the districts. The conference is "grasping the scope of opportunities to be witnesses to the love of Jesus Christ to the world," Burkholder said.

UMCOR field staff person Nina Martin, who also attended the meeting this past week, suggested coordinating with the American Red Cross and Federal Emergency Management Agency to utilize their data on community needs "to shape this ministry as part of a whole community."

Hazelwood said much of the community information will come from case management with people affected. "It's the one-on-one ministry with the family where we find out all of their needs and link them with the resources available," he said. "Case management is the backbone of the whole ministry."

UMCOR will be providing assistance with case management, in addition to funding where needed. "We are committed to helping you in any way we can," Hazelwood said.

Donations for the denomination's response to Charley and other hurricanes should be earmarked for Hurricanes 20004, UMCOR Advance No. 982410. Checks written to UMCOR can be placed in church offering plates or mailed directly to UMCOR, 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Credit card donations can be made by calling, toll-free, 800-554-8583.

Individuals or groups interested in coordinating a group to assist with Hurricane Charley relief and recovery efforts should contact the Florida Storm Recovery Center at 800-282-8011, extension 149. Volunteers wanting to assist in recovery efforts also may call UMCOR's toll-free volunteer hotline at 800-918-3100.

Tita Parham is editor of e-Review Florida United Methodist News Service.

TOP OF PAGE