Christy Smith from the United Methodist Committee on Relief discusses Disaster Case Management at a CWS-organized Recovery Tools and Training workshop in Warren, Mich., Dec. 16, 2014. The workshop was attended by more than 50 church and community leaders from across S.E. Michigan, who came to learn more about the long-term recovery process and how they can help their thousands of neighbors who are still struggling to recover following devastating flash floods Aug. 11, 2014. Photo: Carol Fouke-Mpoyo for CWS
DETROIT — “I just feel alone. Sometimes I want to just ball up in this cold, cold house and sleep all day and sleep all night.”
That’s how Karen C.* of Detroit said she’s feeling now, more than four months since flash flooding resulting from torrential rain sent sewer and surface water gushing into tens of thousands of basements – including hers – in Detroit, Warren and other communities in southeast Michigan.
Karen’s basement is one of an estimated 900 still full of wet debris, muck and now mold following the August 11 floods. Disabled and with limited income, the Detroit resident said she cannot afford to pay for cleanup. She has called the 211 disaster hotline for volunteer help, which has been promised but not yet scheduled.
“Imagine a typical attic where people store things. That’s how my basement was,” said Karen, 60, a former secretary. Sewer water, plus water pouring in at the foundation line, crested at 12 to 18 inches, leaving a sopping mess along the floor line, she said.
“I’ve been trying to clean it out the best I can,” Karen said. “But it’s getting cold, the mold is really bad, and the stench is so bad that when I go down to the basement I can’t stand to stay down there. I use a mask but I don’t think the mask helps.”
What’s more, she said, “My washer and dryer were ruined, and I cannot use the furnace because the mold is so bad that when the furnace kicks on the fumes are so bad I can hardly breathe.” Karen acknowledged that she is risking her health by staying, but she said she fears the house – which she inherited from her parents – will be stripped and looted if she moves out.
Karen is one of 128,083 householders in Michigan’s Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties to apply for federal assistance following the devastating August 11 floods – more applicants than for any other federally declared disaster in the United States in all of 2014.
For some, FEMA grants, SBA loans, insurance payouts and/or personal savings will be enough to clean up and repair the damage, though not necessarily replace all that was lost. The goal is restoration of safe homes and basic necessities.
But thousands of others, including Karen and many other disabled, elderly and/or with limited income and savings, will still have unmet needs after exhausting government and personal resources.
The key to their recovery is an effective local long-term disaster recovery organization. Such a group is in the process of forming in southeast Michigan, and it invited Church World Service to bring its “Recovery Tools and Training” workshop to the region Dec. 16.
More than 50 faith- and other community-based leaders attended the day-long workshop. Presenters included national disaster recovery experts from CWS, the United Methodist Committee on Relief, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Lutheran Disaster Response and World Renew of the Christian Reformed Church.
They gave an overview of long-term recovery group organization, community needs assessment, disaster case management, emotional and spiritual care, construction management, resource development, donations management and volunteer management – all of which work together to help disaster survivors recover.
CWS U.S. Disaster Response Specialist Susanne Gilmore challenged workshop participants to pull together and get to work as quickly as possible for the sake of southeast Michigan’s thousands of struggling flood survivors who need their help to recover.
Workshop participants expressed their resolve to do exactly that and their gratitude for the CWS-organized training.
“I am honored to be here with so many others who are committed to help. I feel hopeful for the first time since August 11,” said one, choking back tears as she spoke.
Another said, “The need is great. It is up to us to see and hear and to have the compassion to help.”
* Karen’s full last name is withheld to protect her privacy.
See related story: Ongoing Michigan flood disaster not hidden from CWS, local recovery community