The floods were devastating……

When World Renew DRS volunteer Gayle Fopma reflected on her experience during a needs assessment in Hammond in 2017, she said in this blog post “….Most survivors we talked to listed a pre-flood income of under $10,000 per year…. Families are living with three to four generations in one mobile home. The water (rose as much as) four feet in one home that had already been raised five feet off the ground. The residents lost all of their possessions, their vehicles, and their safety and security. Many people are filled with deep despair, exhausted…and many welcomed a listening ear and a compassionate heart to share with. They often told us about escaping in the dark through neck-deep water with snakes and spiders swimming alongside them.”

 

Volunteers clean out and gut flooded homes in Hammond, Louisiana

 

World Renew DRS financial donors responded generously at the time of the flood. Because of their generosity and the leading of the Lord, 436 volunteers were able to clean up, rebuild, and repair 50 homes in the last three years. Volunteers traveled from across the U.S. and Canada to give one to three weeks of their time to volunteer on a group mission trip to Louisiana or by themselves or with a friend/spouse at the DRS-managed work site in Hammond.

 

Volunteers from across the US and Canada help rebuild damaged homes

 

The DRS-managed site in Hammond closed in April 2019, and World Renew DRS is grateful to the Tangilena Long-Term Recovery Group in Hammond for its partnership, working together to serve flood survivors there.

World Renew DRS is also grateful to donors, volunteers, and most of all to the Lord, for making the flood response work in Louisiana possible for the last three years.

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever.” Psalm 136:1

 

Donor Supported Recovery Efforts in Louisiana after 2016 Flooding

  • 36 DRS volunteers gave 41,255 hours of their time.

  • 31 homes were cleaned-out, rebuilt, or repaired.

  • 30 in-home reconstruction estimates were provided to the local recovery group.

  • 1,651 in-person interviews with survivors were completed during four needs assessments.

  • 8 homes were cleaned up after the flood.

  • 22 homes were rebuilt or repaired by volunteers at the DRS-managed site in Hammond.

  • 20 homes were repaired by weeklong DRS volunteer groups in Hammond, Baton Rouge, and Denham Springs.

 

World Renew DRS volunteers meet with flood survivors to conect them with recovery support and insure that those who are most at risk do not fall through the cracks (image above and header image)