As of late evening Saturday (3-22-2008) we considered the Early Response Phase of our church's response to the March 15 tornado storms over and the recovery phase now beginning.
A few homes were left needing minor tarping and only chainsaw work in people's yards were now being needed.
There is still a good bit of chainsaw work needed in yards and there will be sporadic homes needing a tarp, which we will provide assistance with if so needed. The EMA / Fire Departments in the areas of need will be able to handle most if not all of the request by themselves now. A UMC ERT Chainsaw team will be down Monday and Tuesday from Georgia helping in Allendale. I plan on sending all a more detailed report / story tomorrow evening.
Wednesday through Friday saw a lot of long hard work with chainsaw and mainly tarping of roofs from an up-state team led by Danny Thompson.
Thursday through Saturday saw the same types of work being preformed by teams from Matthews and Lexington in North Carolina. They stayed through arrangements with Bethel Park, UMC in Denmark.
Saturday was a day filled with the true spirit of "Christian Love in Action" as an 11 person ERT Team from Lexington, SC; 3 person team from Pond Branch near Gilbert, Terry Rawls and Billy Robinson all joined together to make two teams.
Two of the jobs required extensive work covering the entire homes with heavy duty tarping material.
All in all it was a very good and proficient response to which God used us in a mighty, wonderful, loving and caring way to be His "Hands & Feet" to a desperately hurting people - here in our own back yards! SC UMVIM ERT Teams were actively involved in this disaster for one solid week. I thank God for being with us as well as all of the victims and for allowing us the distinct honor and privilege of being used in His service!
Billy Robinson - SC UMVIM Disaster Coordinator
803-539-8429
SC UMVIM ERT Disaster Response to SC Tornados of March 15, 2008
In the late afternoon of March 15, 2008 a destructive swarm of 17 tornados attacked the state of South Carolina leaving swaths of destruction that spread across the entire state. Around 7:15pm an F3 Tornado devastated the Town of Branchville. I heard a cry for help from the Fire Chief of Branchville Alan Oakley over my Orangeburg County Fire Service radio as he described a tornado passing by their fire station in the middle of town. Several seconds later another Branchville Firefighter reported seeing the funnel cloud heading into the center of town. My wife Terrilynn and I were in Orangeburg visiting a friend (Earl Jeffcoat – a member of our South Carolina United Methodist Volunteers In Mission (UMVIM) Early Response Team (ERT) that responded on a team with me throughout Mississippi in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; he is also the mayor of North, SC) in the hospital and going out for a meal. I told Terrilynn that we needed to head home after hearing the seriousness of the damaging situation in Branchville and knowing that there were tornado watches and even warnings all across the state. We had seen a massive storm outside of our home town of North that had produced what appeared to be a funnel cloud and turned the sky green in it’s center on our way to Orangeburg. I made a call to emergency services personnel to remind them of our UMVIM ERT Team that I previously had registered with them to help in the aftermath of a disaster. A familiar voice on the other end of the phone requested that we respond as quickly as possible due to a massive number of trees down.
Our members of SC United Methodist Volunteers In Mission (UMVIM) Early Response Team (ERT) was formed in the fall of 2004 in the aftermath of 4 hurricanes that hit Florida and just missed us in South Carolina. I was the Disaster Coordinator for South Carolina UMVIM and wanted our church to be able to respond as quickly as possible in the aftermath of a disaster to help others physically and spiritually. As United Methodist we had been good at responding with prayers and financial aid then sending work teams a month or so later but that was too late for people needing immediate Critical Incident Stress Management, access routes cut out to their homes, trees removed from roofs and tarps placed on damaged roofs and windows to prevent further damage – making structures safe, sanitary and secure, which is what ERT Teams are all about.
A handful of us worked hard at trying to draw interest and coordinate a team of volunteers willing to respond within at least 24-hours notice of a disaster. There was little interest until Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005 and the week following we were called to action for the first time going all the way to Gulfport helping and providing aid. Suddenly we had several hundred people wanting to volunteer after seeing the need for such teams and toady we have 8 fully equipped ERT Trailers across the state and 300 volunteers – about 150 of which are more dedicated and active that others.
O March 15, 2008 - I had one of our ERT Trailers picked up in North and four of us were on the scene in Branchville 2 hours after the storm hit. Due to the many hazards present an incident command decision was made to stop all work around midnight and resume at 8:00am. I put out the call to action to our regional coordinators across the state shortly after arriving in Branchville. The following morning (Palm Sunday) we had 30 UMVIM ERT personnel and 2 ERT Trailers from North and Lexington United Methodist Churches on the scene in Branchville. We worked very hard all day long cutting out egress routes to homes and placing tarps on damaged roofs while providing loving care and concern to the victims. The down town portion of the town had been devastated and many homes damaged or destroyed including the United Methodist Church, which had a large portion of it’s steeple and roof severely damaged. There we helped with securing the steeple and providing tarps for the inside. In the Prosperity / Newberry area another UMVIM ERT Team from Prosperity responded to action from a devastating tornado that had hit it’s region destroying and damaging many homes. One other team went into action in the Greenwood area.
The following day found us back in Branchville, Prosperity and into Allendale, which we were just learning of its devastating damage from another massive F3 tornado. In Allendale the major focus of damage and need was in the Concord Church Road and Appleton areas near Allendale, which received extensive damage. We worked until the late afternoon applying tarps to roofs in anticipation of a forecast of rain on Wednesday. Due to the wide spread and large amount of damage I made a request for help to UMVIM ERT Teams in North Carolina and Georgia through the South Eastern Jurisdiction of UMVIM.
Tuesday, March 18 found us back in Branchville applying tarps to several homes in dire need after removing trees from their roofs and using chainsaws to cut out egress routes at others. My two sons, William & Jacob and myself made up one team form North. We were joined by an 11-member team from Trinity UMC in Bamberg and a 4-man Presbyterian Team from Orangeburg. An UMVIM ERT Team from Pond Branch UMC near Gilbert responded to Elgin and helped tarp roofs there then back to a location near Batesburg / Leesville to tarp the roof of a severely damaged mobile home that took them until 10:00pm to finish.
Wednesday through Saturday the main focus was on Allendale with sporadic cries for help being headed in other areas of the state. Wednesday was a day of intense and aggressive action as we rapidly tried to get as many homes completed before a predicted strong storm system with torrential rains hit. UMVIM ERT Teams from Bethel Park UMC in Denmark, Anderson and the up-state region of our state (which stayed through Friday), and one from the Myrtle Beach area all converged on Allendale and literally worked until the torrential rains started around 8:00pm while weathering the 40mph gust that came with it to secure tarps to severely damaged roofs. The wind literally tried to blow us off the roofs. And made managing the large 20’x 60’ tarps extremely hard and even had us coming close to parasailing. Wednesday night brought in two teams from the North Carolina regions of Greensboro / Lexington and Matthews / Charlotte. Both teams stayed over night at Bethel Park UMC in Denmark and worked through Saturday in the Allendale area. In addition, Saturday also had ERT Teams from Pond Branch, North, Lexington, and Denmark hard at work all day long cutting with chainsaws and placing tarps on roofs. At the end of the day we considered the Early Response phase of the disaster over since only minor tarp jobs remained and no egress chainsaw jobs remained but only helping people cut and remove debris from their yards. This began the start of the recovery / rebuild phase that would bring in construction work teams to help people in need repair and rebuild. We had been in the early response phase for a solid week and were physically and mentally stressed out but a lot of good had been accomplished in Jesus’ name by reaching out as the hands and feet of Christ to others during their times of need. During this week long period a total of 104 major acts of Christian love in action had been preformed across our state by UMVIM ERT Teams, which included: 40 homes roofs having tarps placed on them – many of which had their entire roofs covered; 51 homes having major chainsaw work preformed, which included the hauling of debris to the roadside for pick-up; 6 homes having other types of roof repair such as ply board, tin or shingles replaced; 5 homes receiving structural support and help to stabilize it; and 2 homes having windows covered that were broken or blown out.
Sunday evening (March 23) a team from Waynesville, NC came down and started to work Monday on the recovery / rebuild phase as a chainsaw team clearing debris from peoples yards. Teams will continue to come and help people rebuild and churches in the region will host the teams welcoming them and making them feel as close to home as possible with true Christian hospitality. Homeowners will continue to see Christ through the actions of these devoted volunteers who without which many people would not have received any aid and further asked the question, “Where is God when I need Him?” Jesus showed up in the forms of Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterians, Salvation Army, other churches and volunteers, Red Cross, county and state agencies, etc. working side by side with one goal in mind – to help others in their times of dire need. These groups worked together in one accord sharing information and resources like one big loving family that was very professional, disciplined, organized, and devoted to the cause. We all learned lessons that will make future responses better as we critique our responses and better perfect our disaster plans. We will all continue to pray for the victims and do the best we can to get them back to a sense of normalcy.
United Methodist were well represented across the state as people who really care and put the UMVIM motto of "Christian love in action" into works in a very real and personal loving way. Several people commented to us that they were thinking of joining the United Methodist Church (several people who we helped stated this with tears in their eyes as we were helping them) after seeing our outpourings of love and care. I thank God that He has equipped us to help others in their times of need and for the honor and privilege of being able to help in Christ's name. I truly saw Jesus in the actions of all the volunteers involved in this week’s response. Being the SC UMVIM Disaster Coordinator, I spent most of the week coordinating teams throughout the state and coordinating with other agencies such as the county and state Red Cross, EMA, SC State VOAD, fire and rescue; city, county and state officials and others. After several days of trying to do it on my own I received help from our conference of the United Methodist Church financially and help with coordinating that literally took a massive load off of me through Rev. Bruce Palmer and Lee McMillan jumping in. The Red Cross has us on their list and they constantly called as they found damaged homes needing help across the state. We would then respond a team as needed. In several locations though, it was simply a case of going door to door due to the severe amount of damage.
Disasters bring out the best in people as you see people volunteering their time, talents, finances, and caring acts of love and concern to help others in need. There is always the story of someone taking advantage of others by charging outrageous prices or taking advantage of hurting and devastated people. I pray that the good in people continues to outweigh the bad and that in all of life we will continue to allow God to use us to help others during their times of need. In doing so we all become better people and gain true spiritual riches and fulfillment that are beyond all measure. In God’s case the more you give in His name the more you receive – you cannot out give God.
I thank God for allowing me to see the good side of so many people throughout this disaster. People not worrying about what time it was, personal agendas, egos, financial cost, whether they were on the clock or not, but rather focused on reaching out and helping their neighbors and fellow man during their times of dire need. I saw people take vacation time, miss scheduled meetings and events, offer donations, cook and provide drink for the masses, open their homes and pocketbooks, chances, chainsaws, tarps, hammers, etc. and get dirty all in the name of love for a people in need. I saw the United Methodist Church congregation in Branchville join us in helping a community in need though their church and some homes were severely damaged. I saw the Allendale Fire Chief stay in his command role sending teams out all week long to place tarps on others homes and do chainsaw work while his on home needed a tarp securely placed on his roof and chainsaw work –but even at my requesting he would not allow his home to be worked on until all others were done.
I am so very thankful to God for bringing us through this disaster with out anyone being seriously injured, for the many work teams of all denominations, relief agencies, good city, county and state government action, volunteer and paid fire departments who quickly sprang into action as always. Without all of us pulling together we would have never accomplished the daunting task at hand in such a proficient manner. It is the churches and volunteers that really make the big difference in the aftermath of a disaster as with all disasters that I have responded to in my 20-years of emergency service as a Captain with the Savannah River Site Fire Department and 21-years as a volunteer Assistant Chief with North and Orangeburg County. If you don’t believe it then simply go out and ask the victims. In Katrina and these tornados of today no aid to the victims was federally received such as tarps and supplies until it would have been too late and other storms ruined what was left or peoples basic needs gone unmet. We must remain strong and aggressive as a Christian people of love in action in a world that largely looks at situations through selfish eyes. Getting involved in selfless acts of love and kindness is what we are called to do making the world a much brighter and beautiful place. Please join in and help spread this flame of love throughout the world!
Anyone wishing to help with a rebuild or chainsaw team should contact Rev. Bruce Palmer at 803-321-5907. UMVIM Rebuild has already started in the Allendale area on the home of a handicapped couple that needed their wheel chair ramp and portions of roof replaced as well as the home stabilized and a back porch repaired from tornado damaging winds.
Billy Robinson – SC UMVIM Disaster Coordinator
P.O. Box 905
North, SC 29112