Dear Alabama-West Florida Congregations:

Our hearts are broken with the news of severe flooding in Louisiana over the last several days. Thousands of people have been displaced and are in temporary shelters after over two feet of rain fell in a short span of time, flooding many homes. Our brothers and sisters there need our help.

First, please pray for all those who are affected by this disaster.

Second, please do not self-deploy to disaster areas until the people in Louisiana have issued an invitation. In the weeks and months to come there will be an appropriate time we can help in person, but that time is not yet. There is no place for volunteers to stay, and we would displace those residents needing shelter now.

Third, there are a few items they have requested:

• UMCOR Cleaning Buckets (Formerly called Flood buckets; click here for assembly instructions)
• Box fans (To help dry out homes)
• 25' Extension Cords (So people can move the fans around in a home)
• 2 gallon garden sprayers (To kill mildew and mold)
• Flat billed shovels (To take out wet carpet, carpet pads, sheet rock, insulation, etc.)
• Garden rakes with 3" tines (To gather limbs, leaves and trash that have floated into a home.)
• 2-wheeled wheel barrows (To carry wet items and trash to the road/street)
• Adult diapers, baby diapers and baby wipes.

UMCOR's Sager Brown depot, located in Baldwin, LA, is already shipping items they had on hand to places where roads are open. Now, they are asking us to help replenish their supplies and their feeder warehouse in Decatur, AL.

We will soon have several collection points throughout the conference where you can take your items and they will be transported to Decatur or Louisiana. Watch for a separate email with that information in the next day or two.

Please do not send items that are not requested. 

Fourth, your financial contributions are always welcome. You can send donations directly to Louisiana Annual Conference, 527 North Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA 70802, with "August 2016 Flood" in the memo field.

Or you can send contributions for UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) to the conference fiscal office at AWFC, 4719 Woodmere Blvd, Montgomery, AL 36106. Write "US Disaster Response #901670 - Louisiana flooding" in the memo line.

This is still an active disaster and our response will evolve as the full scope and needs are understood. As new information is available, we will pass it on.

Many thanks,

Amelia Fletcher, Conference Disaster Response Coordinator
Susan Hunt, Conference Director of Mission and Advocacy

Click here for an article describing the best and worst ways to help after a disaster.