Needs Assessment - Albany, GA - Dougherty County

Serving - DRS:  is a blog about serving with World Renew - Disaster Response Service in the areas of Rapid Response, Needs Assessment and Reconstruction.  The blog is written by Catherine Botts, a volunteer.

Saturday, April 29, 2017 - 6:15 pm

Dear Prayer Warriors,

Thank you for your prayers this week!  They are working!

People are coming to fill out applications with their Unmet Needs.  We have 5 more days to gather information this coming week.  We hope and pray that many more people will come into one of the two walk-in centers or open their doors to us when we are in their neighborhood.

As we have driven around the community we have seen progress but we can see so much more devastation. There is so much more work that needs to be done to help the families recover.

Please keep the Albany Relief & Recovery (Long Term Recovery Group) in your prayers as well as the city and county governments. The recovery will take a long time.  We pray that they will be able to find the resources they need to help their community.  Besides the homes, mobile homes and apartments that need so much work, the community has so many large trees and root balls that need to be cut and disposed of so people feel safe in their yards and neighborhoods.

Please continue to pray for more families to come see us. There were approximately 15,000 people in the two areas that were affected by the storm and tornado.

Link to Albany Herald article for Jan 2nd storm:

http://www.albanyherald.com/news/local/dougherty-county-declares-state-of-emergency-in-wake-of-powerful/article_105a76cb-fe6a-5879-bbb7-99acf968c25f.html

Link to Albany Herald article for Jan 22nd tornado:

http://www.albanyherald.com/news/local/storm-system-claims-lives-four-in-dougherty-county/article_9870b8ec-3995-502d-95fe-40532bb28f25.html

One of our devotions this week was from Isaiah 40: 25 - 31.  The words were meant to be a comfort to God's people when they were released from captivity.  Our prayer is that the words will comfort the families, that they will run and not grow weary as they walk this journey of recovery.

Thanks for your continued support for our team.
Catherine Botts

Needs Assessment - Dougherty County, GA

Good Afternoon! Pray Warriors,

Some of you may not know that I gone but now you do.  I arrived in Albany, GA about an hour ago.  I am a part of a World Renew Needs Assessment team of 17 people.  The team represents 5 different states and Canada.  We are here to assist the Long Term Recovery Group (LTRG) collect data regarding the needs of the families within Dougherty County from two storms in January.

The first storm came on January 2, 2017 which consisted of both straight line winds and rain.  Many trees fell and homes were damaged both from the winds and fallen trees.  Some residents were without power for 2 weeks.

As they were recovering from the January 2nd storm an F-3 tornado came through the community on January 22nd.  The tornado damaged and destroyed many more homes.  The community was devastated again.  The faith community pulled together through both storms and provided over 100,000 volunteer hours during the storms to help with some of the needs.

At the request of the LTRG, World Renew was called in to help them gather data to see where are their families now.  What is still needed.  Will they have the resources to finish the work or will they need assistance.  This information will give the LTRG what they need to seek more assistance to help families.

We will be in Dougherty County until the 6th of May.

Please pray for the community.  They have been through so much.  We pray that they will not be discouraged.  We pray that they will come to the walk-in centers and/or open their doors as we come to their neighborhood.

May they understand that we are here to help.  Help us to listen.  Let us be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Thank you for your prayers!