As Hurricane Isaac dumps a foot or more of rain on Louisiana and Mississippi, World Renew/CRWRC is identifying disaster response volunteers to travel to the Gulf Coast after the Category I storm weakens and moves north in the next few days.

World Renew’s Disaster Response Services (DRS) cleanup teams are equipped to remove downed trees, clean up flooded homes, and provide emotional and spiritual support to survivors in communities that are most affected by Hurricane Isaac. World Renew Disaster Response Services (DRS) managers are also working with local officials and partners to monitor the storm’s progress.

“It’s good to see that the improved levee system in New Orleans is holding up,” says Bill Adams, Director of Disaster Response Services for World Renew, “and that the improvements across the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina are serving the area well during this weather event. We’re especially thinking of the families we came to know during Katrina response starting seven years ago, and praying for them as well as those in the outlying areas who are still very vulnerable to flooding.”

World Renew has a 40-year history of responding to disasters in North America, including a 5-year, $6.5 million response to Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. The agency depends on volunteer labor and financial donations to support its rapid response efforts, programs for assessing survivor’s needs, home reconstruction, and community capacity-building.

To accomplish this work, World Renew works with local and national partners to target disaster survivors in underserved areas who are low-income, elderly, disabled, uninsured, or otherwise unable to recover from the destruction of storms like Isaac.

“In places like Slidell, Louisiana, World Renew rebuilt Katrina-damaged homes on hurricane-resistant, 10-foot platforms to provide protection from subsequent storms,” Adams says. “We have no doubt that these homes will make it through the storm intact. Some unincorporated areas and small towns along the coast like Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, are protected by embankments but situated on low-lying land that is susceptible to flooding from both the storm surge and the heavy rain.”

World Renew is seeking financial donations to respond to Hurricane Isaac and other severe storms during the 2012 Hurricane Season.

Support World Renew's response to Hurricanes 2012 today.

Checks marked “Hurricanes 2012” can also be sent to:

CRWRC US
2850 Kalamazoo Ave SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49560
ph: 1-800-55-CRWRC

CRWRC Canada
3475 Mainway
P.O. Box 5070 STN LCD
Burlington, Ontario, L7R 3Y8