The images of the women in the nursing home sitting in water up to their necks, and a picture of a lone dog carrying a bag of dog food up a wet street are images that stand out in the disaster in Texas. Today rescue folks and people who know what they’re talking about or trying to remind people that the recovery from this is going to take years. This is the kind of event where everybody can be in trouble. Insurance companies are in trouble. Oil and gas refineries are shut down. The economic impact of the shutdown of the fourth largest city in the United States has implications that are impossible to see right now but will become quite clear in the days ahead.
The flood of 97 in Grand Forks shows how even with our modern communications it is sometimes difficult to keep track of people. Pastors were separated from their churches, individuals were taken from their homes, nursing homes evacuated, and handicap people were moved into different areas. In the confusion folks were calling Pastor’s asking if they could check out nursing home or evacuation shelters to find a loved one or a parishioner.
Those were some of the mundane things that were going on and when you stringing them all together it was almost impossible for people to look ahead to clean up afterward. When people say that the Clean up will take years they are not exaggerating. LCMS disaster response along with LCMS World Relief and Human Care longview I will be with congregations and individual members of churches for the long term.
We continue to pray for the people in Texas. When you pray for their rescuers working so hard to help you can do your part by sending a gift to LCMS disaster response. You can hit the give now button at http://www.LCMS.org
