September 13, 2008

With the remainder of Hurricane Ike pounding the Texas coast this afternoon, disaster response volunteers, now on hold, are eager to return to work on homes and businesses hardest hit by the monster storm. Search and rescue teams are expected to enter coastal areas today, as soon as the weather allows.

CRWRC disaster work teams that were scheduled to arrive in Port Arthur and Lake Charles, Texas, this week to continue reconstruction from Hurricane Rita will, in addition, begin cleanup and repair efforts for the very same communities impacted by Hurricane Ike. Initial damage assessments from the recent storm estimates repairs in the tens of billions.

CRWRC will seek to raise $1 million to assist low income families as they try to recover from this latest tragedy.

"Parts of Texas devastated by Rita three years ago are being slammed again," says Bill Adams, Director of Disaster Response Services for the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (www.crwrc.org). "CRWRC disaster response managers and some Christian Reformed congregations in Houston have been evacuated from the areas most vulnerable to damage from Hurricane Ike."

The Christian Reformed Church (CRC) has three congregations in Houston, including Hope CRC, whose pastor, Rev. Roger DeYoung, along with church members, helped evacuees after Hurricane Katrina three years ago. This past week the group was evacuated to Waco, TX.

Adams indicated that Carrie and Len Bloukamp, CRWRC project managers who were in New Orleans, LA, this week to open a long-term reconstruction site to help survivors of Hurricane Katrina, are now ready to assist in the assessments in East Texas and Western Louisiana from Ike.

"CRWRC has active reconstruction sites in Lake Charles and Port Arthur, Texas, at this time," Adams said. "We continue to work with the South East Texas Interfaith Organization (SETIO) and Hope Christian Reformed Church in Houston, as well as the United Methodist Church of Louisiana (UMCOR) and the United Way of Lake Charles, to bring help to survivors of Rita and now Ike."

Adams also said that, like most U.S. disaster response organizations, CRWRC disaster and relief services have been stretched by the number and magnitude of natural disasters in the last three years, the agency and its 2,000 trained volunteers will continue to provide emergency services to disaster survivors on the Gulf Coast, as well as Iowa, Indiana, Florida, and other parts of the country.

"It's not only what we do," Adams says, "It's part of who we are as believers in Christ."

CRWRC is requesting financial donations totaling up to $1 million to launch an additional response to Hurricane Ike in Texas. Gifts designated, "Hurricanes 2008," can be given online at http://www.crwrc.org, or phoned in to 1-800-55-CRWRC. Checks can be mailed to CRWRC, 2850 Kalamazoo Avenue SE, Grand Rapids, MI, 49560-0600.

Members of the Press wishing to arrange an interview with Bill Adams, director of Disaster Response Services for CRWRC, can call cell 616-560-2872, or call Beth DeGraff, CRWRC-US media contact, at cell 616-648-7821.

For more information about CRWRC Disaster Response Services and current activities on the Gulf Coast or in other U.S. disasters, logon to http://www.crwrc.org/.

CRWRC is a Christian, nonprofit agency of the Christian Reformed Church in North America ministering in development, relief, and justice education with people in need around the world. CRWRC is currently active in more than 30 of the world's least developed countries and has a 45-year international reputation for "helping people help themselves."

Christian Reformed Church