Disaster Relief – Day #2 – 4

I am finally back from Disaster Relief! What a week CAP had over 100 houses/trailers to fix up and in that one week, we ended up fixing about 35 of them – AMAZING!! I saw all sorts of damage caused by the storm while I was there. Some of it was minor – only a few trees down; some of it was definitely a disaster – whole houses destroyed, roofs caved in, walls down. The jobs that CAP didn’t get to will be picked up by a Long-Term Disaster Relief Organization. Here is a quick recap and a few pics of my 3 days at Disaster Relief.

Day #2: Today, I got to assess a trailer that had its entire roof blown off. Myself and another CAP volunteer went to this man’s home only to find it almost completely destroyed by the storm. He told us that his entire family was sitting in the living room, when they heard a huge bang and looked up and saw their metal roof sitting on the hill behind them. Very Scary!! After assessing the damage, it was determined that the job was too big for our Disaster Relief team. Luckily, our WorkFest Crew will be able to fix this man’s home and within a few weeks, the family will be able to move back home. After our assessment, we went to another home, were a tree had crashed into a bedroom. The roof and the wall had been destroyed in the home. Our task was to rebuild the wall and the portion of the roof that was destroyed. I helped put up some siding and drywall – it wasn’t too bad!

Day #3: I spent the better portion of the day clearing trees! My crew and I had to move branches, small logs, etc. from the back of a home to the front of the home, so the clean-up crew could haul the stuff away. It was a tough day, but a productive one. We were able to clear all of the debri from the home!! Here is the crew in the truck with the tree pieces.

Our crew and the trees

A close-up of the trees we moved

Day 4: Of all the days, this day was the most rewarding for me. It was on Thursday that I helped put on an entire new roof on an elderly gentleman’s home. At first, we were just going to patch a few holes that the trees had left in the roof. But when we got to the home, the damage was so extensive that our crew leader decided to replace the whole roof. It was an extremely exhausting day, but seeing the look on the man’s face when we showed him the new roof, made any pain that I felt in my arms or legs completely disappear. He was smiling from ear to ear and was so grateful for all that we had done. Once again, this man reminded me why I decided to take a step away from my career for a year and volunteer with CAP!

Here’s a picture of part of the roof:

Roof Repair

Well, there it is..a very brief recap of my week at Disaster Relief! And what a week it was

Peace!

Disaster Relief – Day 1

Well, I am headed to Disaster Relief for the second time since being here at CAP. This time, I will be headed to Eastern Kentucky, more specifically Johnson County. I will be helping to clean up the damage that the ice storm and the tornadoes caused in that area. Basically, I will be repairing homes and cleaning up a lot of debris.

While it is going to be a ton of work, I am really looking forward to it. It will be nice to get out of the office for awhile and visit a part of Kentucky that I have not experienced.

I will be headed there later this afternoon and will be there for three days. I plan to take numerous pictures, so make sure to visit my blog in the next few days.

Peace!

Ice Storm in Kentucky

If any of you have been following the news lately, you have probably heard about the major ice storms that have hit Kentucky. These storms have caused incredible damage to many of the counties surrounding mine, but thankfully the county I live in did not get hit by the ice storm. We had a little accumulation of ice and snow on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, but now all of that is completely gone. And today we are enjoying sunshine and 60 degree weather. We did loose our cell phone and internet service for a bit, but that too has all been restored.

Unfortunately, our neighboring counties were not so lucky. Thousands of people are still without electricity, water, etc.  and it seems like it will be days before there is any relief for these people. The bulk of the problem lies for those who live out in the country, especially in the Appalachia region. With trees down and the treacherous roads, it can be difficult to reach these people and get them help. The National Guard has been called in to help the people of Kentucky and CAP’s Disaster Relief Team has been called in to help out in shelters where many people are staying. So hopefully, every one will be seeing some relief soon.

For more news on the damage in KY, check out these stories:

KY deploys full Army Nat’l Guard for storm cleanup

In Western KY., still stuck in ice storm’s grip

KY struggles with outages in ice storm aftermath

Please keep all those affected by this storm in your prayers.

Peace.