Adventist Community Services Responds to Joplin Tornado
Information is sketchy but we do know it is really bad down there,” reports Pastor Roy Weeden, Missouri director of Adventist Community Services-Disaster Response (ACS-DR). “The Adventist church down there was hit but we don’t know how bad yet. We have missing members.”
The Joplin church treasurer’s home has been destroyed. He and his wife were out of the house when the tornado struck. Their adult daughter, who is deaf, sensed the tornado was coming and took her daughter and went into the tub in the bathroom. The tornado destroyed the house around them. . . .
Adventist Community Services Disaster Response (ACS DR) teams are rapidly responding to the devastating tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri [on Sunday]. This morning, ACS DR coordinators Jody Dickhaut and Roy Weeden began surveying damage, assessing needs and identifying safe locations to begin operations. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state of Missouri have requested that ACS DR take the lead in collecting, sorting and warehousing donated goods that have already begun streaming into the area. Warehouse space has been identified and operations are anticipated to begin tomorrow. Goods processed by the warehouse will be delivered to disaster survivors through emergency distribution centers and by mobile distribute units.
These teams in Missouri join ACS DR teams currently responding in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, Virginia, and Alaska to provide aid to individuals affected by tornadoes, flooding and other disasters. Tons of donated goods are being processed and provide aid to thousands of individuals in need.
