Disaster Services
Many coastal residents and tourists are evacuating inland as Hurricane Earl approaches the Outerbanks.
Emergency management officials in North Carolina have requested The Salvation Army provide feeding services today for evacuee shelters in Beaufort, Carteret and Pamlico Counties.
The Salvation Army is able to provide evacuee feeding services through our mobile kitchen units that are setting up at county-designated shelter locations in preparation for Earl. These mobile kitchen units are fully equipped kitchens and can provide immediate, ongoing mass feedings from one location or while roaming throughout an impacted area.
The Salvation Army will also be providing feeding and hydration services to first responders and emergency personnel.
“Each day The Salvation Army responds in service to crisis situations. And not every crisis is as sensational as a Hurricane, as many are personal, individual and of the heart. Our team is mobilized and fully prepared for response and service as need arises and for as long as the need last”, said Major Willis Howell, Divisional Commander for The Salvation Army North & South Carolina Division.
Stay tune to The Salvation Army’s Hurricane Earl updates as they become available through our Facebook and Twitter pages.
Infrared Image of Hurricane Earl, taken by The Weather Channel
Hurricane Earl continues its path towards the US eastern coast with winds reaching 125mph as of this morning, making the storm a Category 3. (Update: As of Thursday, it’s been upgraded to a Category 4 with 145 mp winds.) It’s expected to reach the coast of North Carolina Thursday evening or Friday morning, casting a dark cloud over Labor Day holiday plans.
All Salvation Army units have been notified of the potential impacts from Hurricane Earl. Personnel in coastal North Carolina and the Eastern Shore of Maryland are working with county and state emergency management officials as well as reviewing local response plans and procedures in case their assistance is needed.
“Our focus at this time is to be prepared locally with a plan, personnel and resources so that our local Salvation Army Corps can provide assistance as required or requested in coordination with county and state emergency management officials”, said Mike Patterson, Emergency Disaster Services Director for the North & South Carolina Division.
While you may are making plans for the holiday weekend, don’t forget to stay alert. We encourage everyone who may be in Earl’s path to prepare an emergency supply kit, make an evacuation plan and stay on top of all storm warnings. For help developing a preparedness plan, coastal residents can visit www.readync.org and www.mema.state.md.us.
Anyone who wants to help those affected by Hurricane Earl can visit www.salvationarmyusa.org or call 1-800-SAL-ARMY. Monetary donations will be used to meet immediate needs. We are currently not accepting donations of clothing and furniture for storm victims; however, please continue supporting your local Salvation Army thrift store and the much needed programs your in-kind gifts support.
Stay tune to The Salvation Army’s Hurricane Earl updates as they become available through our Facebook and Twitter pages.
New Orleans' famous shrimp po' boy. Yum.
This morning I was reading a few articles about President Obama’s commemoration of the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The first family traveled to New Orleans where the President addressed Xavier University yesterday.
As the articles discussed the President’s official business in ‘The Big Easy,’ I found it interesting that most of them made it a point to mention the President’s lunch. His speech, visit to a local housing development and even meetings with hurricane survivors did not overshadow his sumptuous shrimp po’boy at Parkway Bakery & Tavern.
Why was the seafood sub such a big deal?
A few thoughts:
1.The strength of small businesses gives a fair read on the pulse of the economy, and a mom & pop restaurant sure looks hopeful and healthy when you have the President as a patron. Plus, it’s exciting for locals!
2. Food = comfort, especially during hard times.
3. Identity is often linked to food. What better way to affirm a recovering community than to chow down on a traditional meal that represents what New Orleans is about?
In fact, The Times-Picayune recently ran an article about how Hurricane Katrina affected the New Orleans food culture.
Item #3 on the list: Locals’ Appreciation for Food Deepened.
The article quotes a director of a New Orleans non-profit as saying, “In a very intense, concentrated space of time, people found out what really mattered to them. Food became the most important rituals of our lives.”
Item #8 on the list: New Orleanians began cooking all over the country.
This point was most interesting to me since NPR just ran a segment that featured a displaced New Orleanian. Patrick Wooten and his family were air lifted to shelter when their neighborhood of Algiers flooded during the hurricane. They’ve permanently relocated to Plymouth, MA where Patrick now works as a chef at The Salvation Army. Though the setting is a lot different than New Orleans, Patrick keeps in touch with his Cajun roots by serving up home cooking at The Salvation Army kitchen. If he can’t be in New Orleans, what a great way serve others and bring New Orleans to them!
What's for dinner tonight? Try this dirty rice recipe from our own Salvation Army chef.
Lucky for us, Patrick shared with NPR his Dirty Rice recipe that he made on Sunday to remember the 5th anniversary of Katrina. I’m including it below for anyone who’d like a New Orleans culinary lesson:
RECIPE: PATRICK WOOTEN’S DIRTY RICE (Serves six)
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound Andouille sausage
1/2 pound ham steak, cubed
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
1 bell pepper, diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Worcestershire sauce
Uncle Ben’s white rice
Instructions:
- Brown the meat until beef is no longer pink.
- Add Worcestershire sauce.
- Remove meat from pan and saute vegetables in the leftover oil.
- Add cooked rice and more Worcestershire sauce to taste.
- While it cooks down, “sit and wait like a pit bull.”
Read how The Salvation Army has been providing relief to the Gulf Coast in our report “Hurricane Katrina: 5 Years On.”
It’s difficult to imagine how hard it must have been for Gulf Coast residents to lose their homes and be displaced for months, sometimes years, after Hurricane Katrina. But to be diagnosed with a terminal disease on top of that? It seems it’d be too much for a person to handle.
In today’s video, Sheriff Bryan White shares the story of his dear friend Frank and how The Salvation Army helped fulfill his dying wish.
Read more in our report “Hurricane Katrina: 5 Years On” about how The Salvation Army has provided relief to the Gulf Coast and helps it to continue to move forward.
In addition, I’m including a few recent headlines about Katrina’s anniversary and the Gulf Coast:
- The Times-Picayune: Visit NOLA.com for stories, events, photos and all things New Orleans
- New York Daily News: Obama Admin Awards $25M in Katrina Funds
- Huffington Post: New Gulf Business Coalition Aims to Revitalize Beleaguered Coastal Economy
- USA Today: New Orleans’ Progress Mixed with Pain
Almost two years following Hurricane Katrina, Mississippi resident Kathlene Meier says she was still trying to rebuild her home pay check by pay check with only the help of her family, a process she expected would take many more years.
Imagine her relief when a knock on her door one day from a surprise visitor from The Salvation Army led to them receiving all the supplies they needed to complete their house. Kathlene shares the details of her story in the video above.
Kathlene is one of many people who found help rebuilding her home through The Salvation Army. We opened 84,000 cases helping 350,000 people with repair, rebuilding, furnishings and supplies.
And don’t forget, today is The Resiliency Summit in New Orleans sponsored by The Salvation Army and FedEx. Follow the action on Twitter @salarmyalm and @salarmyeds!
Read more in our report “Hurricane Katrina: 5 Years On” about how The Salvation Army has provided relief to the Gulf Coast and helps it to continue to move forward.
As we remember the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, today’s video features Wanda and Emmett Pillault who share their personal account of finding help through The Salvation Army when their home was severely damaged after the storm.
Since The Salvation Army began disastery recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina, we have assisted more than 2.6 million affected people.
The Salvation Army used a multi-pronged plan for community recovery.
More than 106,100 families were able to get free donated items like furniture and large appliances at several major distribution centers along the Gulf Coast.
Caseworkers were on hand at Disaster Assistance Centers registering those in need of Salvation Army services. They opened 265,100 cases representing over 828,000 individuals.
In addition, more than 2,200 homeownership partner grants were distributed among Louisiana and Mississippi, and we provided resources to help 5,000 people who became unemployed as a result of the hurricanes to receive job training and re-employment services.
Read more in our report “Hurricane Katrina: 5 Years On” about how The Salvation Army has provided relief to the Gulf Coast and helps it to continue to move forward.
Major Dennis Gensler, The Salvation Army’s Secretary for Business in the Pakistan Territory, was interviewed today on the current flooding in Pakistan. He spoke with The Path, a Christian radio station of Cedarville University in Ohio. If you weren’t able to catch it live, visit the station’s website here and click on the ‘News’ section where the segment will be uploaded soon.
You may have already read about the state of Pakistan as seen through Major Gensler’s eyes from a blog post we featured last week. He also has his own blog which he updates pretty often with details about his interactions with flooded communities, along with plenty of pictures. You can follow his efforts at http://majorgensler.blogspot.com/. It provides a more personal view than what you’ll read in most news stories.
Since our last update The Salvation Army conducted its third major Pakistan flood relief distribution of quilts, pillows, mattresses and kitchen utensils to 77 families on Saturday. This took place in Nowshera, which is on the bank of the River Kabul and has been badly affected by the floods.
These seemingly simple supplies are critically needed by drenched communities still wading through standing water and ubiquitous mud. Staying dry is important to combating threats that survivors face in the aftermath such as epidemic illnesses and water-borne diseases. As a Pakistani flood survivor suggests in a BBC report, aid in the form of dry bedding and clothes may be as important as food.
With so many still in need, The Salvation Army continues to consider how we can best provide help to Pakistan.
If you would like to support The Salvation Army’s flood relief efforts, you can donate by clicking here.
As we approach the 5th year anniversary of Katrina, the nation is reflecting this week on tragedy that befell the Gulf Coast so many years ago and how the area has pressed on since. As an integral part of the community, The Salvation Army was there before the storm, and we were there after working to provide support and help rebuild.
The Salvation Army’s Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi Division posted an album on their Facebook page that looks back at their efforts to help those in need during the immediate aftermath. From serving food to providing medical support, The Salvation Army was a shining light during a very dark time.
Five years later, we are still dedicated to serving and restoring these communities.
As a part of continuing recovery efforts, The Salvation Army is investing in projects, communities and individual lives in order to help the area become even stronger than before. Five New Orleans neighborhoods are being revived with affordable, green housing thanks to EnviRenew, a project of The Salvation Army New Orleans. Emerge is encouraging youth with positive incentives to learn. A new Salvation Army Kroc Community Center is under construction that will provide the residents of Biloxi, Mississippi with educational opportunities, exercise facilities, services for the community, and many other resources. And these are just a few of numerous ways The Salvation Army is helping the Gulf achieve a brighter future.
The above video “When the Winds Died Down” gives a personal look at how members of the Gulf Coast community found support and hope from The Salvation Army following Hurrican Katrina. We’ll continue to post a new video each day this week that delves further into each individual’s personal story and how The Salvation Army helped them rebuild.
Hurricane Katrina displaced almost all of the New Orleans population when it slammed the Gulf Coast five years ago. Studies show that only about half of the population had returned a year later, increasing to two-thirds by fall of 2007.
While living in southeast Texas, I was surprised by how many people I met during the year following Hurricane Katrina who were hurricane evacuees still waiting to return home. They said they either had no where left to go or the conditions just weren’t liveable. Some said they decided to not go back at all. These conversations made me realize that restoring New Orleans was more than just cleaning up debris and reconstructing buildings. The heart and soul of the ‘Big Easy’ was its residents, but its residents were finding it very difficult to be able to return and thrive back home.
The Salvation Army of New Orleans recognized this problem and launched EnviRenew, a strategy to renew communities through continued Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts. Envirenew began in 2006 and continues to find innovative ways to strengthen New Orleans.
Pictured is an affordable, energy efficient home built through EnviRenew. These units are helping revive New Orleans communities, and they're also designed to withstand strong weather.
The initiative really is amazing. They’ve awarded $10 million in grants to help rebuild 5 New Orleans neighborhoods. They’re constructing affordable, green homes for those in need, improving quality of life and breaking down the high cost barriers that prevent most of these people from being able to return and rebuild. They’re also attracting teachers and first responders to the neighborhoods to make them even stronger. The whole approach is making a positive difference and has even gained expert support.
The interior of an EnviRenew home.
Even 5 years after Hurricane Katrina, The Salvation Army remains committed to help New Orleans progress from a “recovering” city to a “resilient” city. This week you can even have an opportunity to be a part of this!
This Thursday, August 26, The Salvation Army will host a co-sponsored event with FedEx called “The Resiliency Summit.” New Orleans leaders along with national and local experts will celebrate the progress made over the past 5 years and discuss what it will take to create a vibrant and sustainable future for New Orleans communities. This event is free and open to the public, but you have to sign up at EnviRenew’s website beforehand! Register here.
Stay tuned to our blog, Facebook, and Twitter pages for updates on this exciting event. For more information on Envirenew, visit their website at www.envirenew.org.
August 29 marks the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
Be sure to tune in to CNN this Saturday and Sunday night (August 21 and 22) at 8pm ET for ‘New Orleans Rising,’ a Soledad O’Brien documentary which chronicles the rebuilding efforts of the New Orleans neighborhood Pontchartrain Park.
The special will include a look at how The Salvation Army’s assistance helped this community recover.
You won’t want to miss it!
In addition, we’ll also be releasing videos and information every day next week regarding The Salvation Army’s efforts and New Orleans’ progress, so check back regularly at our blog, Facebook, and Twitter pages!
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