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Hurricane Helene has caused incredible damage here in the Carolinas. We are already receiving reports of downed trees, power outages, and most frighteningly, many flooded rivers and dams near collapse.

We have also received some questions about how LDR Carolinas can help in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, especially as we begin to ask rostered ministers about the conditions in their congregations and communities. This post may be a lot of information to read and absorb in the midst of a disaster, but hopefully it will help others understand why we are asking for information about your local conditions!

At this point, as part of the NC and SC Synods, we are most concerned about damage affecting the congregations directly – specifically injuries to staff and members, and damage to the church buildings or to the parsonage or pastor’s home. Both synods have disaster funds. There is even a special campaign ongoing right now for the SC Synod Disaster Fund. Those funds make it possible for each synod to provide financial assistance directly to congregations affected by a disaster.

We want to support you and your congregations’ work in your own communities. Information about the conditions in your congregation and community helps us assess what resources we can suggest to you and helps us report useful information to our partner organizations. Lutheran Disaster Response is not normally one of the organizations that provides immediate relief following a disaster, but we do partner with other organizations through NVOAD (National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster). LDR Carolinas works directly with our partners in both the North Carolina and South Carolina VOADs.

LDR’s major strengths are in long-term recovery and disaster case management. Meaning that LDR can bring funding to the table to assist with the repair and rebuilding of homes in the months and years following a major disaster. In the Carolinas, that long-term funding and work is coordinated through our partner agency, Lutheran Services Carolinas.

Help is available. As LDR Carolinas, we do not have large teams of volunteers available to provide immediate assistance in your community, but many of our partner organizations through VOAD do. The American Red Cross and Salvation Army are two of our partners that provide shelter and feeding, and other organizations like Baptists on Mission, UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief), and Team Rubicon ( a veterans’ organization) often provide the volunteer labor to help clear debris, tarp roofs, and begin mucking out flooded homes.

To receive volunteer assistance with home damage from Helene, please register with Crisis Cleanup at 844-965-1386. In addition to registering for assistance with necessary work, this will also help officials assess the extent of damages in your community. More resources are available in both English and Spanish. Please let us know if you need them. We encourage you to share this information with everyone in your congregation and community!

We do have the ability to request Solidarity Grants from LDR. These grants help provide for short-term unmet needs in an area affected by a disaster. Information from you about the needs in your community will help us prepare a grant request for these funds if they are needed. We also want to partner with congregational or community leaders who can help administer those funds in their area.

We would also welcome an opportunity to meet with pastors in your conference or to speak with your congregation to explain more about the work of LDR Carolinas, especially our two focuses of promoting disaster preparedness and developing a network of individuals and congregations in the Carolinas who are prepared to respond when a disaster occurs.

Let us know if you can help! Volunteers are needed to help with the cleanup, but please DO NOT self-deploy. If you are available to help, let us know and we will help you connect with other organizations already at work in the area.

Volunteers are also needed to take phone calls to Crisis Cleanup. This can be done from your own home on your own schedule. All you need are basic computer skills. Let us know if you would like to help, and we will help you get the brief online training.

We continue to pray for all those who have been affected by Hurricane Helene (along with previous disaster recoveries that we are still assisting with here in the Carolinas)!

As Hurricane Helene Approaches Let Us Pray for All Who Are in Its Path:

Loving God, in the communion of Christ, we are joined with the trials and sufferings of all. Be with those who endure the wind and rain. Protect those in the path of danger. Open the pathway of evacuations. Help loved ones find one another in the chaos. Provide assistance to those who need help. Ease the fears of all and make your presence known in the stillness of your peace; Through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

(From Worship Resources for Natural Disaster)

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A state of emergency has been declared by both Governor Roy Cooper in North Carolina and Governor Henry McMaster in South Carolina as Hurricane Helene continues to increase in intensity.  Helene is forecast to make landfall in Florida as a major Category 4 hurricane and advance through Georgia as a category 1 hurricane.  All of South Carolina and most of Western North Carolina are under tropical storm warnings.  Tropical Storm winds and heavy rain (up to 12 inches) are predicted for most of the western parts of both states.  Areas east of the eye of the storm are more likely to experience tornadoes.

On Friday, travel is not recommended.  Heavy rain, flash flooding, and tropical storm force winds will make driving very hazardous.  Stay home!  If you have not prepared to shelter in place for at least 3-5 days, do it now. With recent rains, more rain and wind will make many roads impassable with downed trees and it may take several days to clear roadways.  Do not drive through flooded roadways.  You cannot see if the pavement is still there, or if it has washed out. Turn Around! Don’t Drown!!!

Here are some things to consider NOW:

• Be following weather information from a reliable source, like the National Hurricane Center or your local National Weather Service office to know what to expect in your area.
• Be sure you have a way (or multiple ways) to receive weather updates even if the power is out.
• Locate your flashlights or another light source in case of a power outage. Check your supply of batteries or lamp oil and stock up if you need more.
• Secure outdoor furniture and other items to prevent them from being damaged or becoming airborne in high winds and causing other damage.
• Take time now to check out your generator and purchase fuel if you need more.
• Charge your laptop computer, cell phones, and other devices and keep them charged.
• Be sure that you have the necessary supplies to be at home for 3 to 5 days without power. Consider how much water, food, medications, paper goods, and pet food you may need. Remember that you will need food that you can eat without heating if the power is out.
• Have cash on hand in small bills for emergency purchases.

For more information on resources needed to shelter at home, please go to www.ldrcarolinas.org/resources, or www.ready.gov, www.readync.gov, or www.scemd.gov

Follow www.facebook.com/ldrcarolinas for more updates.  We will share the latest information as the storm approaches.  Arrival for wind and rain is predicted to being late Thursday evening for the Carolinas.  Your preparations should be done by then so you can plan to stay home and safe.

If your home is damaged, please report it to www.crisiscleanup.org/disasters.   That will help you secure volunteer assistance and help officials complete damage assessments following the storm.

For ELCA rostered leaders in North or South Carolina, if you, your home, your church building, church members, or the homes of congregation members are impacted by this (or any other disaster), please contact your bishop and the LDR Carolinas coordinators.

If you would like updates directly from LDR Carolinas, please join our network here.

Ongoing preparedness and response are at the center of our work. We are grateful to all the congregations and individuals who help us with this work. Right now we are focused largely on two fronts: the God’s Work Our Hands (GWOH) day project we invited congregations to participate in and the response to Tropical Storm Debby which affected both North and South Carolina.

God’s Work Our Hands Day
Thanks to everyone who has participated in the GWOH project! We were invited to speak at Community in Christ, Cornelius NC that day and participate in their assembly of Cleanup Kits (aka flood buckets) and Children’s Comfort kits. They packed our van with filled buckets and plastic shoe boxes, plus some extra supplies that were left over! We are also delighted to see photos of these projects on several congregations’ Facebook pages. The next step is to deliver these kits to one of the collection sites.

Here is a list of the collection locations with the name of a contact person. When you are ready to drop off your assembled kits, contact one of these congregations to arrange an appropriate drop-off time or contact us if you need to make other arrangements.

• Trinity Vale, NC Pastor – Tommy Lineberger
• Coble’s Julian, NC – Peggy Shoffner
• Epiphany Winston-Salem, NC Jim Pierson
• Mt. Hebron Hildebran, NC – Pastor Karin O’Donnell
• St. Luke Mt Ulla, NC – Pastor Robert McCarty
• Lutheran Chapel China Grove, NC – Pastor John Tucker
• Amazing Grace Waxhaw, NC – Pastor Christi Pursey
• Heritage at Lowman White Rock, SC – Beth McLean
• Hope Lutheran Vance, SC – Pastor Bruce Kreutzer
• St. Andrew Columbia, SC – Beth Trump
• Messiah Mauldin, SC – Pastor E P Martin

Please deliver them as soon as possible. We will work to gather them over the next few weeks and move them to a storage location until they are needed.

Tropical Storm Debby Response
We have been steadily communicating with our partners in VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) both before and after Tropical Storm Debby arrived in the Carolinas.

At this time, we are aware of six ELCA congregations in the Carolinas who experienced flooding, downed trees, roof damage, or other damage to their buildings during TS Debby. Fortunately, none of this damage was major. There were three in each synod:

• Reconciliation, Wilmington Christ Community, North Charleston
• St. Mark, Lumberton St. Luke, Summerville
• Trinity, Sanford St. Michael, Moncks Corner

If you know of other congregations that were damaged, please let us know!

Damage assessments continue in both Carolinas as flooding was slow to recede due to additional rainfall after Debby passed by. We are still working to determine the best way that LDR Carolinas can assist our neighbors in need following this disaster with grant funding from Lutheran Disaster Response.

We are also actively assisting folks in Guilford, Wake, and Gaston counties of North Carolina where the number of those affected are too small for a declaration, but people are still in need of assistance. While other VOAD organizations are mucking out these homes, we are providing temporary housing and some moving assistance with the help of a Solidarity Grant from LDR. Special thanks to volunteers from First, Greensboro who salvaged these belongings for a resident and moved them into storage!

Recent Publications:
The NC Synod recently published a special E-News, with information on a completed partnership project in Lincoln County as well as other ongoing projects. It included reminders about the God’s Work Our Hands Day projects, and ways to give to support our disaster ministry.

We also recorded a video for the SC Synod, publicizing a special appeal for the SC Synod Disaster Fund. That fund, like the NC Synod Disaster Fund, is used primarily to assist congregations recover from disaster damage. The funds may also be used to assist other synods when they experience serious disaster damage.

Hurricane Season Updates:
We are currently in the most active part of the season! Follow our Facebook page LDR Carolinas for regular updates on current conditions.

Our next LDR Carolinas Network meeting will be next Tuesday at 7:00 pm.
Contact us for the Zoom link if you would like to join the meeting!