CWS Emergency Cleanup Buckets Give Hope to Flooded Michigan Households


September 4, 2014

Detroit area survivors of the August 11 flash floods in Eastern Michigan receive CWS Emergency Cleanup Buckets from an American Red Cross outreach team. Photo: Larry Conover / CWS

Detroit area survivors of the August 11 flash floods in Eastern Michigan receive CWS Emergency Cleanup Buckets from an American Red Cross outreach team. Photo: Larry Conover / CWS

“I couldn’t believe how fast the water rose. The damage it left was unbelievable; I really didn’t know what to do.”  This comment from a homeowner in greater Detroit was echoed by tens of thousands across eastern Michigan who suffered damage from flash floods on August 11.

At 8 a.m., it started raining hard across most of the region.  All afternoon, it rained even harder.  By the time the rain stopped, most of the region had received at least 3 and as much as 6 inches of rain, creating widespread flash flooding.  Water poured into streets, yards and basements, affecting thousands of homes with flooding of a few inches to 4 feet.

As the flood waters receded, American Red Cross outreach teams drove Mobile Emergency Response Vehicles full of relief supplies into affected neighborhoods.  People beginning the massive task of mucking out and removing debris expressed their thanks for “the tools to get started, to think I really could get through this.”

On August 19, the outreach teams distributed 2,000 CWS Emergency Cleanup Buckets, expedited to Detroit by Church World Service.

Larry Conover of Lansing, Assistant Field Director of the CWS Michigan Region, was present when the truck full of CWS Emergency Cleanup Buckets arrived at the American Red Cross in Detroit.

“The Red Cross people were so excited to get the buckets,” Conover reported.  “They were taking pictures and high-fiving each other as the truck backed in.  They pulled the buckets right out of the truck and put them right into their Mobile Emergency Response Vehicles, which headed out immediately to start distributing them to flood survivors within an hour of the buckets’ arrival.”

A Detroit area survivor of the August 11 flash floods in Eastern Michigan takes home her CWS Emergency Cleanup Bucket, distributed by an American Red Cross outreach team. Photo: Larry Conover / CWS

A Detroit area survivor of the August 11 flash floods in Eastern Michigan takes home her CWS Emergency Cleanup Bucket, distributed by an American Red Cross outreach team. Photo: Larry Conover / CWS

Conover accompanied one of the vehicles through Royal Oak, a Detroit suburb.  As it drove slowly through the streets offering the buckets, Conover said ‘people came out of their houses waving their arms.”

The Red Cross outreach teams also distributed CWS Emergency Cleanup Buckets in Metro Detroit, Warren, Dearborn Heights, Highland Park, Huntington Woods and Hazel Park.

La Forice Nealy, CEO of the Southeast Michigan Region of the American Red Cross, said, “We are extremely grateful to Church World Service for your wonderful partnership assisting us in the Detroit area.  Flood water is not environmentally safe.  It is hard to clean.  You need bleach and disinfectant.  You must assume everything is contaminated.  The CWS Emergency Cleanup Buckets will help so many people clean up the mess that the flood waters left behind.”

Nealy added that most of the flood survivors are not covered by federal flood insurance, “because the area that flooded was not in a flood zone.  Recovery will be an enormous challenge.  Many people are facing economic disaster.

“Having worked alongside the Red Cross in other disasters, CWS understands the critical role the Red Cross plays in helping its neighbors recover from disaster and was eager to help the Red Cross help these hard-hit communities,” he said.

Church World Service is a global humanitarian agency whose U.S. program includes disaster recovery, refugee resettlement and work to end hunger.  Immediately after disaster strikes, the agency offers CWS Blankets and Kitsassembled by U.S. churches and community groups, then supports disaster-affected communities with long-term recovery start-up grants and training.

CWS does this work in collaboration with its member communions and partners.  In a conference call August 27, several shared information and plans.

Among them, the United Methodist Committee on Relief shipped 2,500 cleanup buckets to the affected region, and has emergency response teams on the ground, reported UMCOR’s Greg Forrester, adding, “We have a lot of churches right in the heart of the affected communities.”

Michael Stadie, Program Director for Lutheran Disaster Response, noted how people in Warren are struggling.  “There is a lot of poverty in the area. One of our congregations has seen a large increase in numbers coming to its food pantry in recent weeks.”

Editor’s Note: CWS thanks its member communions for the efforts to help restock its warehouses with CWS Emergency Cleanup Buckets, Hygiene Kits, Baby Care Kits and School Kits.  Many people in need will benefit from these resources. All efforts to replenish our supplies for future emergencies are as always greatly appreciated. CWS Baby Care Kits and School Kits are in shortest supply right now.  Click here for information on the CWS Kits program: http://www.cwsglobal.org/get-involved/kits/ 

Click here to read Larry Conover’s blog post about his experience.