Sandy Hendrickson, Kansas West Disaster Response coordinator, started assessing damage on Sunday afternoon, April 15. She has been in touch with all the district disaster response coordinators and with district superintendents in areas that were affected by the more than 90 tornadoes reported in Kansas April 14 and 15.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have been affected by these storms,” Hendrickson said.

Hendrickson has been working this week at the multi-agency Disaster Resource Center in Wichita where she has been instrumental in administering immediate assistance to individuals in need prior to the start of the long-term recovery process. She also has distributed 15 cleaning kits provided by Arkansas City First UMC that were awaiting transportation to the United Methodist Committee on Relief’s Sager Brown Depot.

“The people who received the UMCOR cleaning buckets were eager and thankful to receive them,” she said.

Bishop Scott Jones has requested a $10,000 emergency grant from UMCOR to assist with the conference’s response to the disaster. UMCOR has been continually monitoring the situation and has been in contact with Hendrickson since Saturday night.

DAMAGE STATS:

According to FEMA, there were 50 homes destroyed including 40 in Sedgwick County. An additional 57 homes had major damage, 135 homes had minor damage and another 51 were affected.

Counties affected include Edwards, Ellsworth, Kiowa, McPherson, Reno, Rice, Sedgwick, Stafford, Harper, Marion, Saline and Sumner.

It’s not yet known if the Kansas tornadoes will receive a presidential declaration opening up federal financial resources for disaster-affected individuals.

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

Contributions can be made to the Kansas Area Disaster Response Fund at www.kswestumc.org by clicking on the button on the left-hand side of the site labeled “Give to the Kansas Area Disaster Fund.” Contributions also may be made out to Kansas West Conference and mailed to 9440 E Boston St., Suite 110, Wichita KS 67207. Write “Area Disaster Fund” in the memo line.

Volunteers in Wichita are being coordinated through a common Volunteer Reception Center located at the Oaklawn Activity Center, 4900 S. Clifton. The reception center is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday. At this time, anyone wishing to volunteer with the clean-up and recovery efforts should report to the Oaklawn Activity Center during these times.

Individuals can prepare for future disasters by participating in Early Response Team, Basic Disaster Response or Emotional and Spiritual Care Team training sessions. Local congregations can prepare for a disaster by completing the Connecting Neighbors training and developing a disaster response plan. Richfield UMC in southwest Kansas is the first congregation to have a plan approved by UMCOR.

Make up a handful of UMCOR cleaning buckets to store at your local church for future needs, or make up several and ship to an UMCOR depot. A list of UMCOR depots may be found at http://www.umcor.org/UMCOR/Relief-Supplies/Relief-Supply-Network/Relief-Supply-Network. A list of items for the cleaning buckets may be found online at http://www.umcor.org/UMCOR/Relief-Supplies. Click on “Cleaning Bucket” to download a PDF list of the items needed. The supply of cleaning buckets is running low at UMCOR depots.


LONG-TERM RECOVERY:

United Methodists are dedicated to long-term recovery following disasters. Long after other agencies leave a disaster site after the initial emergency response, United Methodists continue to work with a community to meet the needs of those affected by disaster.

A long-term recovery committee is being formed and will begin meeting in the next week. This group will assess the unmet needs for the community and administer funds given to meet those needs. Long-term recovery can take months or years to complete depending on the size of the disaster.