Episcopal Press and News
MISSISSIPPI: Diocesan teams coordinate efforts to pack up, move out those in flood danger
Episcopal News Service. May 10, 2011 [051011-03]
Pat McCaughan
Tracy Nuckolls' Mississippi Delta four-bedroom home had survived Hurricane Katrina and scores of wind and rain storms but this week's flood predictions sent her packing — and readying to evacuate.
"I look out my front window and see the Mississippi River levee. Behind our house are all the bayous where they're saying the floodwaters will come from. This is just really hard on us," said Nuckolls, 38, in a May 10 telephone interview from her home.
"If the backwaters come up … as predicted, there will be about eight feet of water inside my house. We're moving completely out, just in case. We don't know for sure if it's going to flood or not but we're going to be safe about it," she added.
She is among hundreds displaced along the Mississippi River, swollen by massive rainstorms from Illinois to Arkansas. The river crested in Memphis on May 10 and is expected to cause more flooding as it winds through the low-lying Mississippi Delta area toward the Louisiana coast.
Nuckolls was awaiting the arrival May 10 of the Rev. Scott Lenoir, a coordinator for the Diocese of Mississippi's disaster relief efforts. Lenoir was leading a caravan of trucks to help "pack up and move out" those in flood danger.
"The bishop appointed the disaster relief team in late February. We got on the ground in March. Then the storms hit and now the floods are coming and we've had to kick into a gear that would allow us to check on people," Lenoir said in a May 9 telephone interview.
He and the Rev. Carol Spencer, diocesan coordinator for disaster prep and response, have undertaken multiple relief efforts, from physically moving people and their belongings to connecting "those who need resources with those who have them," added Lenoir, a priest associate at Chapel of the Cross Church in Madison and editor of the diocese's "Mississippi Episcopalian" publication.
For Lenoir, May 10 was a critical turning point. Officials were expected to close Highway 61, a major travel route near Nuckolls' home the following day. "The roads are going to flood out pretty soon that go into the delta towns," he said in a May 10 interview as he headed in a pick-up truck toward her home. "The river in Memphis is cresting today and then it'll move on down to us."
While officials predict levees should hold, the huge volumes of water from recent rainfalls are expected to overwhelm tributaries and bayous and flood low-lying areas, Lenoir said.
Lenoir was on his way May 10 to pack up and move belongings not only for Nuckolls, but also her rector, the Rev. Ed Lundin, of Chapel of the Cross Episcopal Church in Rolling Fork.
But Lundin said that although he was planning to move belongings, he'd stay put until the actual floods occurred. If creeks near the 1-1/2-story rectory overflow, he'll reconsider whether or not to go, he said in a May 10 telephone call from his home.
"The volume of water is already at historic proportions and they expect there to be a lot of standing water afterwards," he said. "It shocked me. The water will be at high water crest for 30 to 45 days."
A lot of what's happening is "managed chaos mode," Spencer said May 10 from the diocesan cathedral center, where staff were receiving a course in CPR and emergency fire training procedures.
"We are also building a diocesan plan for long-range disaster relief," she said. Clergy were asked to connect with parishioners and local communities and to conduct "pastoral walk-arounds" to assess and communicate needs, she said.
The community was also asked to contribute to the Mississippi Disaster Fund, via the diocesan website, and to Episcopal Relief & Development as well. Contributions of gift cards for fuel or gas or other necessities are also welcomed, she said.
Spencer said it was difficult to assess the total number of volunteers involved in disaster relief. "We sent out four or five teams today from just two churches," she said, adding that other teams are forming.
Additionally, local churches are initiating their own efforts, coordinating and volunteering with local shelters and other agencies to help those in need, she said. Those in need of emergency shelter can receive accommodations at the Duncan Gray Camp and Conference Center in Canton, Mississippi, she added.
None of the diocesan churches has been affected thus far by flooding, but "we are watching the church in Rolling Fork, Chapel of the Cross," she said. "It's in the middle of the delta's flat growing fields."
In Yazoo City, the Rev. George Woodliff said several members of his Trinity Church congregation had evacuated. If the floodwaters rise as predicted, local officials expect to declare a state of emergency in Yazoo County next week, he added.
Meanwhile, everyone is on high alert. "Until we know the extent of the impact on Yazoo City and Yazoo County, we will provide vouchers for gas or means of transportation to shelters for those in need," he said.
He said he doesn't expect the church to flood. "But if the levees break, that could change everything," he said.
He added that the people of the town and the church have been through a lot of floods and tornadoes and other disasters "and they have a very strong faith," he said. "We'll get through it. They know their history. We've talked about it many times. They know the people that have been there before them have been through terrible things and survived, and that sustains them."
As for Nuckolls, "It's been difficult, but we're coping. We're taking it day by day and watching the stages of the water. It hasn't overflowed yet, but the bayou is coming out of the woods already behind us. Our front yard is completely mushy and mucky from seeping water from the river, coming up underneath the highway and the levee," she said.
"With Katrina we got lots of heavy wind and lots of rain but it didn't flood the house. The front yard was flooded, but we could handle it. This is going to be a lot worse if that water breaches the levee. It's going to be devastating."