Annual Report 2008
by Gayle V. Strickler, Jr.
Iowa Disaster Response Coordinator

2008 was an unprecedented year in Iowa, as far as disasters are concerned. Here is an overview:

Memorial Day weekend - Sunday evening May 25 - an EF 5 tornado hit the town of Parkersburg. The track of the tornado went more than 40 miles to the east. Six Parkersburg residents were killed. The southern third to half of the town was destroyed, including the district high school. There were two more casualties in the town of New Hartford, approximately 10 miles to the east.

The flooding began about two weeks later. More than a half a dozen major river basins were involved, plus the Mississippi. Essentially the flooding began near the northern border with Minnesota (Mason City) and moved downstream to near the southeast corner of the state (Burlington), bordering Illinois and Missouri. Many towns, large and small, are impacted.
There was also flooding in the northeast corner of the state, especially the area around Elkader, and in central Iowa, particularly the Des Moines area.

Other areas have to deal with damage caused by saturated soils.

As much of the rest of the state dealt with flooding, a tornado hit the Boy Scout camp near Little Sioux in western Iowa on June 12, 2008. Four scouts weare killed.

Beginning with Butler County, the home area for Parkersburg and New Hartford, a presidential declaration eventually included 85 counties. Fourteen counties were undeclared; seven counties were declared for public assistance only (roads bridges, government buildings, for example). Damage was in the multi-millions of dollars. Many towns, large and small, had damage that seems incomprehensible. The city receiving the most media coverage outside of Iowa was probably Cedar Rapids. The towns of Palo and Oakville were almost totally damaged or destroyed.

Two UCC churches were hit especially hard - Peace UCC in Waverly and Eden UCC in Cedar Rapids. Peace church made the decision they would not return to their building, largely because this was not the first time the church and parsonage had been inundated. The Eden church building had never before had water anywhere near it. That congregation has made
the decision to return to their building. In total about a dozen churches in the Iowa Conference received grants from National Disaster Ministries (NDM).

In addition, Bob Tripp, an Illinois Conference disaster response coordinator, delivered “a load” of flood buckets, to assist with the clean up work in Clarksville. The total amount of the grants was nearly $25,000 (not including the value of the flood buckets). And with grants that have been made to Long Term Recovery Committees (LTRCs), the total exceeds
$30,000. In addition to the monies that have come from NDM, the Iowa Conference provided an opportunity for congregations and individuals to contribute to tornado and flood recovery. The total of gifts received and
given to the Cedar Rapids and Waverly churches, the Parkersburg community and numerous LTRCs was approximately $36,000.

Beginning in the days following the Parkersburg tornado, I have worked with my colleagues from the Lutheran, Methodist and Presbyterian churches to assist in the development of LTRCs. In that process I had the opportunity to work with a good number individuals who were Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) voluntary agency liaisons
(VALs). This communicated to those in the local communities that there was support from “local” people as well as from “the Feds”. What was also gratifying to me was the opportunity to get to know UCC clergy and lay people who wanted to do what they could to see their community recover. In addition, we partnered with groups from many different faith communities
to work on clean up. There were also many resources from other segments of the disaster response community - the private sector and city, county, state and federal government. The ability for much of this collaboration and cooperation came as the result of my on-going involvement with the Iowa Disaster Human Resource Council (IDHRC), the statewide group
whose purpose it is to assist with disaster response and recovery.

Currently, as the co-chair of the IDHRC, I have been involved in the forming and implementation of a LTRC that will be addressing unmet needs in counties that have not established a LTRC. The number of counties is likely to be in the mid-40s. Again, it would not have been possible for this to happen had it not been for the established relationships developed in times
when there was no active disaster to respond to.

There is much work yet to be done. Groups are coming to Iowa to help with the rebuilding process. This is coordinated through the UCC Volunteer Ministries. This means that congregations have stepped forward to allow groups to use space for sleeping, food preparation, eating and personal hygiene. It is again an example of how all the parts of the UCC work
together to bring a healing and hopeful presence to communities impacted by disaster. My deep gratitude to all those who have played a part in this important ministry.

April 20, 2009

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The Flu: A Guide for Parents: Questions and answers about the flu, how to protect your child, treatment, and more
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Clean Hands Saves lives: Keeping hands clean is one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others.

Hand Hygiene in Healthcare Setting :  Guideline for Hand Hygiene in Healthcare Settings - 2002.

Hand washing to reduce Disease: Recommendations to Reduce Disease Transmission from Animals in Public Settings

BAM! Body and Mind. Teacher's Corner.: In this activity, students will conduct an experiment on washing their hands. They will learn that "clean" hands may not be so clean after all and the critical importance of washing their hands as a way to prevent the spread of disease.
 
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"Be a Germ Stopper" posters and screensavers. Simple reminders for good hygiene for use in classrooms, cafeterias or laminated for bathrooms.

See the Stop the Spread of Germs site at www.cdc.gov/germstopper.

See the Cover Your Cough page on this site for poster and flyer formatted for use in schools.

The toll free number for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Helpline is

 800-621-FEMA (3362) or TTY 800-462-7585. FEMA Helpline hours are 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day.

Disaster loan specialists from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) are available to answer questions and help people complete their disaster loan applications from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The number is 800-659-2955.

For information from the State of Iowa, click here:http://www.rio.iowa.gov/. 
You may give donations for flood relief to the Iowa Conference. Make the designation on your check, and we will disburse them.

For photos of flooding in Louisa County, click here: http://www.kenpurdy.com/FloodWeb/Flood.html

For a compilation of ecumenical responses to the floods:  http://www.iowawaters.blogspot.com/