Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Perry Heads Disaster Group

Gurdon is well covered when it comes to disaster relief, should the unthinkable happen.

Lloyd Perry, local Methodist minister and President of the Gurdon Rotary Club, also wears the hat as chairman of the Methodist Disaster Relief group.

Perry, talking to the Rotary Club during its regular meeting Thursday, Aug. 13, said it's hard for the average person to understand the dynamics of disasters.

Once a disaster occurs, most people think of the various organizations that respond. These include the Red Cross, Office of Emergency Services and Salvation Army. However, Perry said, the Methodist Church group also responds and begins preparing to help those affected by the disaster.

This, he said, is an organization to fill the niche left by those other agencies. "Our job is to get everything together when a disaster hits. Those involved (affected) by the disaster are under stress and in shock."

The shock, he said, can last three to five days on average. During this period, those affected by the emergency situation aren't able to think clearly and don't always know where to go to get help, or, in many instances, how to fill out the paperwork involved for assistance.

The disaster coordinator gathers a team to evaluate what's happening, takes photos of the aftermath and begins planning for the recovery. Depending on the size of the disaster, he said, the recovery process can take from 30 days to three years. On average, though, the recovery takes about 18 months.

Perry's group intervenes on the third day of the calamity and begins organizing the local churches. The churches can be used for many things, including shelter for those who lost their homes, feeding places, headquarters for other agencies and storage areas for supplies brought in.

Ministers are brought together to form a disaster panel and martial the churches forces. The Methodist Church has seed money to start planning and offer assistance to those in need.

Church workers also help those affected wade through the federal bureaucracy when dealing with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), working with them to get the proper paperwork filled out and filed.

This, Perry said, is because many people have no idea how to fill out the applications from FEMA, or even which applications they need. In some instances, he said, victims have had to file five different applications before finding the right one for their needs.

"We work to bring the community together as soon as possible," he said. "If we have a disaster, you'll see people from the United Methodist Committee on Relief bringing in supplies and bringing kits with staples people need.

"They're ready when disasters hit."

UMCOR, as the committee is known, will remain at the affected area until it is no longer needed as part of the relief effort. Those involved with UMCOR go where disasters hit worldwide.

"Working disasters isn't easy or pretty," Perry said. "The best way to help people is through local churches."

He urged the Rotarians to support their local churches and work with them in times of need.