Helping in Lacombe
Many groups of Iowans with loving, servant hearts have gone to Lacombe, LA to help with the devastation that many of our fellow Christians are dealing with. One of those servants, Ron Aschbrenner, Concordia Lutheran Church, Cedar Rapids reports:
In October I took a group to Louisiana to help with clean up. We met another group from Des Moines and South Dakota. It was a fun and energetic group to work with. We stayed in motor homes and the fellowship hall of The Village Church in Lacombe, LA. Our motor home had the community shower and we ate in the fellowship hall. We worked hard, but I doubt if anyone lost any weight. We had a lot of good food to eat which the ladies prepared for us. The Village Church had only tree damage, because an old railroad bed acted like a low dam and kept the water from coming into that area.
On Monday and Tuesday we pulled tack strip and nails from walls and ceilings. We also cut and drug trees to the street. The lady had paid a group of boys $6,000 to remove her belongings and all the drywall from her home. We finished up what they left undone.
On Wednesday cleaned up more downed trees and gutted Belinda's home. She lived and worked in New Orleans and had 5-6 feet of water which stayed up for a long time. We went across Lake Ponchitrain to get to her home. We removed all of her personal belongings and a wood parquet floor that was buckled. Her cupboards, fireplace and walls were all covered with mold. We saw many flooded cars in the area abandoned. It reminded you of a war zone movie.
The area near the church that we worked on had only 2 feet of water and went down after a few hours. However, it destroyed everything on the floor and the drywall was moldy a couple feet up on the wall. One home had water moccasin snakes in it, so we had to wait till animal control removed them. We heard that they had to remove an alligator from a school.
We pulled the carpet, insulation and drywall from a home. A tree fell and put a hole in the roof that allowed the water to do damage. This home belonged to the pilot that you saw removing stranded people from the Holiday Inn.
On Thursday we removed trees all day. That night we were going to Biloxi, Mississippi to veiw the beach and do some metal detecting. We got as far as Waterville. The #90 highway bridge was washed out, so we drove along their beach. This area had a 30 foot wall of water come in from the gulf. We saw some sidewalks and many driveways where homes had been. A pile of cement blocks, bricks and some trees were all that was left.
I've told people to imagine everyone in Cedar Rapids 120,000+ having a flood like New Orleans and taking all their belongings and putting them on a pile by the curb. Think of it and thank God that we have not had to do this.
On Friday I worked with a group from Minnesota. We finished cleaning up a yard at a home that they had worked on earlier.
In the afternoon we went to a 2 bedroom home of a family of 6. There was mold 5 feet up on the drywall, mattresses were still soaked with water and moldy furniture warped and buckled. I saw the mother go to a closet and take her wet moldy wedding dress down to save. We carried most of the rest of their belongings to the curb.
I plan on going down again to volunteer in January. Let me know if you would like to go along or donate something for me to take along.
On January 26, Ron reports: Hi Ellie, We had a good week. We finished 2 jobs that were started by other groups. Some painting and mostly mucking out a house that had had 7' of water and 2-3 layers of everything; paneling, drywall, carpet and lots of mold. We really need to spread the word that they have room for 80 people [workers ]. Ron
Note: Ron is referring to the Lutheran Disaster Relief Tent City in Slidell. Volunteers are provided lodging and food at the Tent City. For more details, contact Ellie Menz @ 515-386-8420
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