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Situation
Following severe storms and heavy rainfall from late July, eastern Kentucky has been devastated by deadly flooding. Many of these communities were still recovering from recent tornadoes and flooding, making them highly vulnerable during the storms. Today, the American Red Cross reported that about 1,400 homes have been destroyed or severely damaged due to the flooding. The New York Times has reported a death toll of 37 people and dozens missing or injured. Kentucky Governor, Andrew Beshear, estimated recently that this toll will go up to 38 people.
CWS Response
CWS KITS AND BLANKETS. CWS is responding to the requests of local organizations for CWS Emergency Cleanup Buckets, Hygiene Kits, Blankets and School Kits. So far we have shipped out about 1,500 CWS Emergency Cleanup Buckets plus 600 blankets, 300 CWS Hygiene Kits and 60 School Kits. We are connecting with other organizations and partners, including the Kentucky VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) and the local school districts, to ensure affected families and individuals have access to our supplies.
CWS CALL CENTER. CWS repurposed our Call Center for Asylum seekers as a helpline for immigrants and other non-English speakers impacted by the flood – now they can call our CWS helpline for local resources to help recover from the flooding. Our team is ensuring that refugees, people seeking asylum and other recent arrivals in these communities have the information they need through our CWS Call Center. The CWS Call Center is available for anyone in affected areas who needs help connecting to resources or learning about what is available to them and their families. With the help of our VOAD partners and local organizations, we are working to spread information about the call center to affected communities.
OTHER PIECES. CWS is collaborating with the Kentucky VOAD and partners on the ground to ensure that we are up to date on the situation and are positioned to respond in the most effective and efficient ways. We are committed to addressing the needs of our clients affected by this disaster and developing our response as needed.
How to Help
Donations can be made online or sent to Church World Service (P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515).
Explore cwskits.org to learn about assembling and shipping CWS Kits to stock our shelves so that we can respond when the call comes following this or a similar disaster in the future.