Potomac Conference Adventist Community Services Disaster Response

DISASTER NEWS
Date: April, 2011 TORNADO REPORT Vol: 11 Nbr: 02

PULASKI, VA. On Saturday, April 9, 2011

the Volunteers and Donations Coordinator
for the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Depart-
ment of Emergency Management (VDEM),
contacted Bob Mitchell, Adventist Commu-
nity Services Disaster Response (ACS DR)
Coordinator for Potomac Conference, re-
garding a possible response to Pulaski, Vir-
ginia. Two tornadoes ripped through Pulaski
County on Friday evening, and several teams
of responders were needed to quickly apply
the famous blue tarps to damaged houses.
More rain was predicted, and it was very im-
portant to protect as many homes as possible.

According to official reports, in the towns of

Pulaski and Draper, there were 31 homes de-
stroyed, 25 sustained major damage, 52 more
had minor damage. A total of 159 homes
were affected. One of the homes with minor
damage is the home of a Radford SDA
Church member family.

Bob began calling the pastors of the churches

in the SW district of the Potomac Confer-
ence, to find folks that could join a team of
ACS responders. (Each church should
have an elected Disaster Response Coordi-
nator. This was made more evident with
this event, since many of the pastors and el-
ders were at Camp Blue Ridge for an annual
retreat.)

One of the Pulaski church members was able

to contact a number of Pulaski and Radford
members. On Sunday morning, April 10, 15
members, including Bob, came together to
assist the families affected by the tornadoes.
Disaster News is published by Bob and Diane Mitchell, Potomac Conference ACS DR Coordinators. Please send
news items and comments to bmitchell_acsdr@earthlink.net, or call 434-760-1767.
 Three of our responders were assigned to this time, the organized and approved dis-
assist with distribution activities. aster response organizations already
working in the area can handle the imme-
Fortunately, there were no fatalities or major diate situation. If additional volunteers
injuries during this outbreak of tornadoes. from other organizations are needed, official
requests will be made through appropriate
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell has ap- channels. Adventist Community Services
plied for a federal declaration for this event. Disaster Response is in contact with the au-
If a federal declaration is given, it will pro- thorities, and stands ready to call upon its
vide federal financial support for the com- trained volunteers, should they be needed.
munities and the individual families, as they
attempt to rebuild their homes and their However, it should be said that in both the
towns. Pulaski and Gloucester events, Seventh-
day Adventists have already missed their
GLOUCESTER, VA. On Saturday, April golden opportunity to minister to those
16, 2011, an estimated ten tornadoes ripped affected. As Jesus demonstrated for us, we
through approximately eight communities will have much better success with attracting
across Virginia. The worst hit areas were others to our church if we have helped them
the Gloucester and Middlesex Counties of in their time of need. Being ready and will-
Southeastern Virginia. ing to quickly help others is one sign of a
healthy church.
These tornadoes were not as compassion-
ate as the two in Pulaski. Seven people lost The organization, Voluntary Organizations
their lives during this weather event. Five Active in Disaster (VOAD), is the coordinat-
were directly attributed to the tornadoes. ing organization through which all approved
voluntary disaster response organizations,
In this outburst, initial estimates reported including Adventist Community Services
that 430 private structures were damaged. (ACS), maintain contact with the needs of
Sixty-four of these were totally destroyed, the effected area.
and 147 sustained major damage. One pub-
lic school reported significant damage. Adventist Community Services, the official
Seventh-day Adventist humanitarian service
This weather event also contained major rain agency in the United States and Bermuda, is
fall. Many rivers and creeks across the accepted as the professional specialists in
state went into flood stage. One such creek Donations Management. This includes
contributed to the two deaths in Waynesbo- Community Collection Centers and Emer-
ro, VA. gency Distribution Centers. These activities
are most often immediately needed as a re-
At the time of this article, assessment of the sult of smaller events, such as just happened
communities affected by this weather event in Virginia.
is still under way. The most seriously im-
pacted areas (Gloucester and Middlesex It is most important that our members
Counties) have asked that no volunteers at- become trained in two disaster-related
tempt to respond at this time. A volunteer processes:
coordination center is being established. At

Disaster News is published by Bob and Diane Mitchell, Potomac Conference ACS DR Coordinators. Please send
news items and comments to bmitchell_acsdr@earthlink.net, or call 434-760-1767.
 First, our members need to be trained in Dis- comforted, the ignorant instructed, the inex-
aster Preparedness. This focuses on how perienced counseled. We are to weep with
to prepare yourself and your family to better those that weep, and rejoice with those that
deal with events like we have just experi- rejoice.” This is, in a very special sense, the
enced. It is easy for us to assume that we work of ACS DR. This is our mandate.
will not be affected by such an event, be-
cause it has never happened in our area be- Hopefully, we all want to see our local
fore. Pulaski just experienced two torna- churches become more healthy, to grow, and
does—the first in the recorded history of the have more folks in our communities be bet-
area. ter prepared to meet Jesus when He returns.
One of the major avenues toward this end is
Second, our members need to become spending our time as Jesus did—among the
trained in how to collect and distribute people. This means getting out on the
donated goods immediately following disas- streets, meeting the people, serving the peo-
ters. Adventist Community Services Disas- ple regarding their personal needs. An old
ter Response (ACS DR) is often called upon says, “The army travels on its stomach”. It
to provide leadership in these response activ- applies here. It means that the army must be
ities. BE READY! fed in order to be able to accomplish its task.
Our “army” must feed the members of our
Each Seventh-day Adventist Church communities. In order to do this, we must
should have an elected Disaster Response also be fed (trained)—not only in spiritual
Coordinator, who would work with the matters, but in how to better serve our neigh-
Conference ACS DR Coordinators to have bors.
their members trained and remain ready to
respond when needed. A frequent concern ACS in the Potomac Conference offers spe-
regarding response is that the trained volun- cialized training toward this end. Contact
teers would have to go hundreds of miles your ACS and ACS DR Coordinators to
away, to another disaster. As we can see learn more about how to offer some of this
from recent events, many of these disasters training in your community.
are happening at our own back door.
We are told that disasters will increase in
Ellen White, whose writings have abundant- frequency and intensity. Look out your back
ly blessed those who read them, says in the door, and you will probably have this warn-
book, Ministry of Healing, p. 143, “Christ's ing confirmed. Are you ready? As the
method alone will give true success in reach- graphic below illustrates, disasters happen in
ing the people. The Saviour mingled with any season. There is no longer a special
men as one who desired their good. He time of year for a specific type of disaster.
showed His sympathy for them, ministered
to their needs, and won their confidence.
Then He bade them, "Follow Me." “There
is need of coming close to the people by per-
sonal effort. If...more time were spent in
personal ministry, greater results would be
seen. The poor are to be relieved, the sick
cared for, the sorrowing and the bereaved

Disaster News is published by Bob and Diane Mitchell, Potomac Conference ACS DR Coordinators. Please send
news items and comments to bmitchell_acsdr@earthlink.net, or call 434-760-1767.