Associated Baptist Press - 9/15/2008

Associated Baptist Press
September 15, 2008 · (08-87)

Greg Warner, Executive Editor
Robert Marus, News Editor/Washington Bureau Chief

In this issue
Relief, recovery efforts begin after Ike ravages Texas coast
As Ike disaster draws focus, Caribbean relief continues

Relief, recovery efforts begin after Ike ravages Texas coast
By ABP staff

GALVESTON, Texas (ABP) -- Less than 24 hours after Hurricane Ike ravaged the Texas and Louisiana Gulf coasts Sept. 12, Baptist groups were mobilizing supplies and relief workers for the disaster zone.

The massive storm -- rated as a strong Category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale of hurricane intensity when it came ashore -- pushed a huge storm surge onto the far eastern Gulf coast of Texas and southwestern coast of Louisiana. As of midday Sept. 15, the Associated Press was reporting that Ike had claimed 31 lives in the United States -- several of them caused by winds and flooding as Ike moved inland across the South and Midwest.

Authorities reportedly feared that more would be found dead as they began recovery efforts in the remote Bolivar Peninsula, just east of Galveston. The sparsely-populated area suffered the highest winds and largest storm surge of the hurricane -- and many residents were unable to evacuate because wind-driven high water began cutting off escape routes nearly 24 hours before the storm made landfall.

Baptist Child and Family Services, a Baptist General Convention of Texas-related agency, entered the strike zone as part of the state's 500-vehicle convoy making up Texas Task Force Ike. The institution will lead medical and health services for the strike zone of Hurricane Ike.

The BCFS incident-management team is providing logistical support to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) operations for Texas Task Force Ike. BCFS President Kevin Dinnin is serving as incident commander for DSHS operations establishing command for Texas Task Force Ike on Galveston Island for the entire storm strike area of Texas.

As part of the 1,000-person team, including federal medical teams, BCFS is setting up a global command post to aid victims who have experienced the brunt of the storm.

"Resources are stretched thin across the state, and we consider it a privilege to serve in this way," said BCFS President Kevin Dinnin. "We are thankful for those who are working with us around the clock in San Antonio, Tyler, Houston and Galveston to restore communication and aid those affected by this massive storm."

BCFS has been charged with caring for evacuees with special medical needs in San Antonio and Tyler, Texas, in partnership with local churches. The special-needs shelters temporarily house people who do not "fit" in the massive general population shelters because they need basic medical attention such as a caregiver, medical support or monitoring or need to have large amounts of medical equipment with them. They may also be individuals with acute illnesses or who have special mental-health needs.

BCFS has responsibility for manning and managing such special-needs shelters any time there is a mass evacuation to San Antonio or anywhere else in Texas. BCFS and its partner churches have the capacity to care for up to 5,000 people. When Hurricane Gustav threatened just two weeks ago, BCFS cared for close to 500 such evacuees in San Antonio and Tyler.

Texas Baptist Men has activated all of its mobile kitchens and has been asked to prepare as many as 110,000 meals a day. Kitchens will be working in League City, Beaumont, Orange, Bryan, Marshall, The Woodlands and San Antonio.

As of Sept. 14, some of the units were en route. Others were scheduled to leave early Sept. 15. Volunteers from Utah, Idaho and Iowa will work alongside Texas volunteers on some of the kitchens.

Ike inflicted some damage on BGCT-affiliated institutions. Memorial Hermann Hospital sustained minor damage at some of its Houston-area locations, but remains open.

Less than 24 hours after Hurricane Ike hit Houston, Parkway Place Executive Director Chuck Childress reported late Saturday that power had been restored to the retirement community, which is operated by Buckner Baptist Benevolences. Childress said service crews already were making repairs and performing clean-up. The restoration of power also restores air conditioning to the community and will halt earlier contingency plans by Buckner Retirement Services to move residents to other retirement facilities because of the heat.

"The lawn service is here taking care of the many branches and two trees that are down around the campus," said Childress, "And the roofer is already here taking care of shingles and any other areas of the roof that are damaged. An extraction service is on site taking care of the areas that received water. We're in really good shape considering the damage other buildings received in Houston."

Initial rports from observers indicated moderate damage to the Beaumont, Texas-based Buckner Children's Village and the Calder Woods retirement community.

Greg Eubanks, director/team leader for Buckner Children and Family Services of Southeast Texas, said a spouse of a staff member made an early-morning assessment of all the structures Sept. 13, finding mostly wind- and rain-related damage.

"It appears from that report that we were blessed with less damage than we had feared," Eubanks said. "Although it looks like we've got a lot of clean-up. There seems to be some water damage from seepage and a window that blew in, there's some roof damage caused by falling trees and we lost some shingles."

Calder Woods security personnel also reported moderate damage and power loss to the retirement community Saturday afternoon. Initial reports showed the townhomes received no damage, but that some fencing, carports and trees were down from the Category 2-force winds that blew through the area.

Pearl Merritt, president of Buckner Retirement Services, said she was pleased with the reports.

"Other than a small leak from a few missing shingles, Calder Woods received no water damage," she said. "We're so relieved. We feared flooding the most and it appears we had none at all. What a blessing."

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-- Haley Smith, John Hall, Jenny Pope and Robert Marus contributed to this report.


As Ike disaster draws focus,Caribbean relief continues
By Vicki Brown

GONAIVES, Haiti (ABP) -- Even as the attention of Americans turns to the disaster caused by Hurricane Ike in their own country, Baptist agencies are responding to massive devastation across the Caribbean islands, battered by three successive tropical cyclones since Aug. 26.

Currently, most are sending monetary donations to hard-hit islands devastated by flooding. Baptist World Aid, the relief and development arm of the Baptist World Alliance, has designated an initial $10,000.

American Baptist International Ministries, the overseas missionary arm of the American Baptist Churches USA has provided almost $15,000 in emergency grants to its Caribbean partners. The agency has sent a $3,000 grant to Jamaica, $3,500 to the Dominican Republic and $5,000 to Haiti. At least another $3,000 in emergency aid is planned for the region.

According to BWA reports, hurricane-caused damage is estimated at $20 billion in the area.

Ike was particularly destructive in Cuba, where it made two landfalls as a strong hurricane. "The destruction of houses is really terrible, some houses have fallen, and a great quantity has lost roofs totally or partially," Manuel Delgado, vice president of the Fraternity of Baptist Churches in Cuba, told BWA. Paso Real de San Diego in the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio was badly damaged, he said.

Caribbean nations weathered Hurricane Gustav Aug. 26, Hurricane Hanna Sept. 1 and Hurricane Ike Sept. 5.

Gustav affected Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, and the United States. Hanna struck Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the United States. Hurricane Ike caused further damage in Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and the Turks and Caicos. All told, the three storms have caused hundreds of deaths and left tens of thousands homeless.

According to news reports, Gustav killed at least 94 people in the Caribbean, with Hanna killing at least 26 in Haiti. At least four died in Cuba as a result of Ike.

Haiti has been among the hardest hit, suffering four storms within three weeks, with more than 550 reported dead -- many due to flooding and landslides caused by heavy rains. News sources indicate 80 percent of homes in the Turks and Caicos Islands have been destroyed.

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