On the exact day that Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans 7 years ago, August 29th, Hurricane Isaac once again battered the shores of the Gulf Coast, hitting Mississippi and Louisiana with 80 mile an hour winds. Isaac hovered over the area for another 2 long days, causing massive flooding with some areas receiving over 30” inches of rain.
While New Orleans was not affected by Hurricane Isaac, new areas that had never seen flooding before were inundated by torrential rains. The area of LaPlace and St. John the Baptist Parish, just 1 mile from Lake Ponchatraine, had over 7,000 of its homes flooded, impacting over 30,000 people in that area alone. An estimated 50% or more of these homes are un-insured.
“new areas that had never seen flooding before were inundated by torrential rains”
Warehouse Filled With Relief Supplies
Always having an eye to bring relief to those who have been overlooked, Somebody Cares and its partners (listed below) went in to provide initial relief, feeding 1000s of families each day in that first week after the hurricane hit. We soon connected with Pastor Neil Bernard of New Wine Christian Fellowship. New Wine has a 60,000 square foot warehouse, and is connected with over 20 local churches in the Parish. Efforts were coordinated, and the warehouse was used to receive and distribute much-needed aid and cleaning supplies to the area, including over 75 pallets delivered by Somebody Cares and its partners. The pallets included bottled water, cleaning supplies, bleach, and were delivered along with a fork lift and several pallet jacks. Thousands received and continue to receive aid through this warehouse and our local partners.
Our own Ministry Outreach Director, Eric Cummings, accompanied one such truckload of supplies, and met up with Ted Tuttle of Mercury One, who has partnered with us on some of the relief effort. The devastation they found on the ground was great. Many homeowners had just gotten access to their homes to start the clean-up process — 3 weeks after Hurricane Isaac hit. Many of these hard working blue-collar families had a positive attitude but with little help coming into the area, their road to recovery will be a long one. That is why Somebody Cares continues to look for ways to assist in these communities. Thank you for helping make all this possible!
Partner Non-Profit Organizations, Churches and Ministries in Relief Effort:
- Mercury One / Dallas, TX.
- Victim Relief Ministries / Dallas, TX.
- Blood -n-Fire San Antonio / San Antonio, TX.
- Blood-n-Fire Minneapolis / Minneapolis, MN.
- Somebody Cares San Antonio / Daily Bread Ministries, San Antonio, TX.
- Feed the Children / Houston, TX. , Oklahoma City, OK.
- City Blessings Church / Los Angeles, CAL.
- Crosby Church / Crosby, TX.
- Broken Yoke Ministries / Houston, TX.
- Victory Life Church / Gulf Shores, AL.
- CRI – Crisis Response International / Naalehu, HI
Ministry and Church Partners in New Orleans:
- Greater New Orleans Pastoral Coalition
- New Wine Christian Fellowship
- Church of the King
- City Church
Company Partners in Relief Efforts
- Briggs Equipment / New Orleans LA.
- 10:19 Logistics / Fort Smith, ARK.
- Staples