Historic flooding has struck Louisiana once again this year, affecting many parts in the south region. According to the National Weather Service, these floods are worse than the ones that happened in March which affected over 40,000 families in LA. Over the weekend, many areas have received more than 20 inches of rain and are still inundated with increasing water levels. Since these areas are inaccessible because of road closures, ACS is attempting to get food and supplies to those affected via boats.
The Baton Rouge Spanish Church has reported that 90% of their members were forced out of their homes and evacuated. Some members from other churches in the area, as well as two Adventist pastors, too have had their homes heavily affected. The Baton Rouge Church, along with the Kenner and Metairie Churches in New Orleans, are currently housing shelter for the evacuees. Several churches in Arkansas and Northern Louisiana are operating collection centers to gather much needed emergency items which will be distributed to those affected.
The Arkansas-Louisiana ACS Disaster Team led by Lavida Whitson is actively involved in the Recovery efforts. They will be lending cots and mattresses to Kenner church. They are also in contact with the local food bank to make arrangements to feed the evacuees. ACS has also been asked to open a Multi-Agency Warehouse in Baton Rouge to accept donated goods for the survivors. The Texas Conference Disaster Response Team, led by Joe and Sherri Watts, along with Elder Durandale Ford, ACS Director of Southwest Regional Conference, are connecting with those on the ground and offering support to our efforts taking place in the State. NAD ACS has also worked with Irene Williams of the Southwest Regional Conference who is issuing Comfort kits, and connected their team with the National Association of Katrina Evacuees, a group we worked with during Katrina 10 years ago. In addition to ACS, Red Cross has also assisted in the Recovery efforts by housing over 10,000 evacuees on Sunday night.
Currently in Louisiana:
- Over 8000 people were in shelters on Monday night.
- Over 40,800 people have registered with FEMA as of 11:00 am on Tuesday.
- Thousands of volunteers have come from all over the country to support Louisiana.
Monetary donations are being accepted now.
Send a check to:
ArkLa Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Disaster Fund
PO Box 31000
Shreveport, LA 71130
Online donations at this link: http://www.arklacsda.org/article/5/online-giving
Let us keep Louisiana in our thoughts and prayers!