Ice Storm Follow-Up
03-10-2009By JANE DENNIS
Arkansas United Methodist Editor
The ice that coated much of northern Arkansas in late January has disappeared, but residents are still dealing with the destruction or property and disruption to their lives that the winter storm left behind.
As of Feb. 18, electrical utilities have yet to be restored to some rural parts of the state, particularly in the northeast. Businesses without power have been temporarily shuttered; paychecks have ceased in some instances. Reserve food supplies stored in freezers had to be tossed. Homes have been damaged or rendered powerless when ice-coated limbs have crashed and pulled utility boxes away from the homes, leaving the homeowners with sizeable repair costs. Greater numbers of persons have been seeking food and job assistance.
“If you didn’t have homeowners insurance — or what insurance you had wasn’t enough — and the power supply got pulled away from you house, and you’re off from work a week, and all your food spoiled … then you’re in a heck of a pickle right now,” said Maxine Allen, Arkansas Conference minister for missions.
Weeks after the storm, some United Methodist churches are still staging centers and feeding stations for volunteers and displaced families. The Cherokee Village church and Fairview church near Mountain Home are among those still hosting volunteers, according to Allen. Griffin Memorial UMC in Paragould provided meals on a daily basis for an extended period, as well. Neighboring churches helped out by sending shipments of food and water.
Allen said long-term care committees in the affected areas have begun to organize and plan for the future.
The Arkansas Conference is “still soliciting funds for both UMCOR [United Methodist Committee on Relief] and our Conference disaster fund, Allen said, “and we’re still working with Arkansas Rice Depot and the Arkansas Foodbank Network to get food and supplies to affected areas.”
While most schools have reopened, children enrolled in supplemental food programs that send home food in backpacks play a critical role in many families’ survival. “We really have a need for more food,” Allen said, “because many of the kids need to take home extra food in backpacks. Their families are not eating unless they bring it home with them from school.”
Across the state, Volunteer in Mission teams are being disbursed, and some are being housed at Mount Sequoyah Conference and Retreat Center at Fayetteville and Mount Eagle Conference Center near Clinton, both United Methodist facilities.
Part of the Arkansas Conference response will be to offer local church preparedness training, “which will assist congregations and parishioners in preparing and understanding what they need to do to prepare for the next disaster, whether it’s a tornado, fire, hurricane or an earthquake,” Allen said. “We will conduct this training in church clusters upon request.”
In the meantime, here’s key contact information and ways to help:
• VIM teams that wish to assist with recovery efforts should contact Don Weeks at dweeks@arumc.org or (501) 868-9193.
• To schedule local church preparedness training, contact Maxine Allen at mallen@arumc.org or (501) 324-8045.
• Make a financial gift to help with recovery. Make checks payable to “Arkansas Conference” and designate Arkansas Disaster Fund No. 703. Contributions may be placed in your local church offering plate, or sent to: Treasurer, Arkansas Conference, P.O. Box 2941, Little Rock, Ark. 72203.
• Donate food or make a contribution to your local food pantry or a statewide food distribution program such as the Arkansas Rice Depot or Arkansas Foodbank Network.
