USA (MNN) — Aid teams are
already on their way to the Gulf to help with the cleanup after Hurricane
Gustav slammed into Hurricane Katrina's footprint.
Bill Adams, Director of Disaster Response
Services for the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, says
they were ready for a quick response.
Their teams were already in the
vulnerable areas building homes for Hurricane Katrina's
survivors. The agency has an active list
of over 2,000 volunteers, some of whom are already scheduled to arrive on the
Gulf Coast over the next few weeks to continue ongoing reconstruction projects
after Hurricane Katrina.
They pulled most of their teams
back once word of the storm arrived. However, CRWRC-DRS construction
coordinator Arnie Gustafsen is traveling from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to
southeast Louisiana assessing damage and determining emergency response needs. Gustafsen will travel to the Houma and Lake
Charles, Louisiana areas as safety and weather allow.
Once they are able to gauge an
appropriate response, "We hope to get back building homes. The other area where the eye of the storm
actually came in is in Houma, Louisiana. There we're going to send a team that
will be heading down to Houma. The roads
are still closed."
CRWRC has more than 30 local
emergency response partners in the Gulf States who will experience the impact of Gustav.
"Our volunteers and local
partners have rebuilt about 5,000 homes in Louisiana, Alabama and
Mississippi in the last three years," Adams notes. "Those families and homes are again in
jeopardy, in addition to those who are still living with damage from Hurricane
Katrina on a daily basis."
Adams says many families are
reliving their nightmares of three years ago.
"We tell our people 'Go in, start to help, and then when people
ask you, you take the opportunity.' More
often than not, we have an opportunity to share our faith and to pray
with people who are really hurting."
Click here if you want to help
with funding for the recovery effort.
