In Brief — July 13, 2005 {0329}
e-Review Florida United Methodist News Service In Brief — July 13, 2005 July 13, 2005 News media contact: Tita Parham* An e-Review News Item LAKELAND — Although the Florida Conference was not in the direct path of Hurricane Dennis, some coastal communities were affected. Florida Conference Storm Recovery Center (SRC) staff say an early assessment of damage in the Florida Conference from the category 3 storm indicates flooding on the Gulf Coast from St. Mark's to Cedar Key. The heaviest areas of rain were reported in Jefferson County, with potential flooding along the Aucilla and St. Mark's rivers. Additionally, water from Tropical Storm Cindy is flowing south from Georgia with the potential for flooding in north Florida. Portions of Highway 98 are closed. The SRC has received requests for flood buckets from the Jacksonville and Cedar Key areas. The Alabama-West Florida and Mississippi conferences have asked for assistance from specially trained Early Response Teams. Those interested should contact Chris Bills at cpbills@sbcglobal.net to register a team. Volunteer teams that have not been trained as early responders may call the SRC at 800-282-8011, extension 149, or e-mail stormrecovery@flumc.org. Volunteer team applications are posted at http://flumc2.org/page.asp?TableName=oPages_6KF3UU&PKValue=640. Interested teams should complete the form and fax it to the conference office. Instructions and fax information are posted with the team application. Local churches can help with the response by: * Contacting their district disaster response coordinator for training and information. A list of coordinators is posted at http://flumc2.org/page.asp?PKValue=691. * Making flood buckets and health kits and sending them to the Florida Conference Disaster Response Depot in Madison. A list of items for the kits is located at http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/print/kits/floodbucket.stm and http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/print/kits/healthkit.stm. Contact depot coordinators at 850-929-4938 for shipping instructions. * Making a contribution to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) Hurricanes 2005 Global, Advance #982523. Contributions may be placed in United Methodist church offering plates or sent directly to: UMCOR, P.O. Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068. Checks should be written to UMCOR. Credit card donations may be made by calling 800-554-8583. Help is still needed for areas damaged by the 2004 hurricane. Work teams are needed to complete work before the next heavy rain or storm does additional damage to homes under repair. Contact the SRC at 800-282-8011, extension 149, or StormRecovery@flumc.org. ### This article relates to Hurricane Disaster Response. *Parham managing editor of e-Review Florida United Methodist News Service.
800-282-8011 tparham@flumc.org Orlando {0329}
By Florida Conference SRC
Florida Conference communities, others need assistance