A few days before Hurricane Laura made landfall as a category 4 storm in the early hours of Aug. 27, Marie Nelson, associate director of Gilmont Camp and Conference Center in Gilmer, Texas, reached out via email to the administrators of the nonprofit Evergreen Life Services, a community for adults of differing intellectual and developmental abilities in Lake Charles, Louisiana. She wanted to make sure they knew residents and staff from Evergreen would be welcome to shelter at the camp if needed, just as they had done briefly after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Whenever a disaster strikes, the Rev. Erica Rader does three things: she gives to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA), she gives to a food bank in the impacted area, and she prays.
Now she is finding out what those gifts to PDA are supporting.
Shortly after Hurricane Katrina dealt a historic blow to New Orleans, Hurricane Rita churned up to Category 5 in the Gulf of Mexico and threatened to deliver a second punch to the Crescent City.
The storm took 14 million acres or 40% of Iowa farmland, plus numerous barns, silos, and other structures. In Cedar Rapids, more than 1,000 homes have been declared uninhabitable, and most buildings have sustained some damage. People displaced wait in tents for help, while across the state, power and other utilities are still out.
Relief efforts are under way in Beirut to help the more than 300,000 people displaced by the Aug. 4 port explosion that is now being called among the five strongest blasts in human history.
A massive explosion in Beirut, Lebanon on Tuesday has left at least 100 dead and more than 4,000 people wounded. The cause is still under investigation.
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is monitoring the fallout from Hurricane Hanna in Texas and keeping tabs on tropical storm Isaias, which is forecasted to reach Florida by this weekend.
Charles and Melissa Johnson served as ruling elders in their home congregation, Northwood Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, and now as mission co-workers in Zambia. In both places they found joy and strength in the strong sense of community that surrounded them. Now sheltering in place in Atlanta at Mission Haven, short-term housing for mission co-workers, they are busy staying connected to partners, supporting churches and finding that sense of community in new places.
