Project Recovery of LSS provided on-site councilors each day and will continue to offer their services in Jefferson and future sites to be determined. Other VOAD partners were available and visible at our Spring Green site and are assessing as a group how the long-term recovery efforts will progress. The Jefferson site was very lightly attended the first several days of last week, but serviced 53 families on Saturday alone.

The Spring Green Resource Center has conducted and assisted over 145 families during the two weeks of its operation.

We are prepared to begin our second and last week in Spring Green this afternoon and Monique Larson Hicks will lead the Resourse Center in Jefferson tonight. While driving to meet with the staff liaison for Spring Green Town Hall I spread fliers to Muscoda, Avoca and the Village of Arena. Avoca was very hard hit by the overflowing river and torrential rain-rivers descending from the great hills and the entire community was moved before the maximum water level would prevent their escape. Buses were lined up and moved citizens through a collection of back roads to the relative safety of Muscoda. Avoca is still feeding upwards of 75 folks a day (and is on day 46) - both volunteers helping with the infrastructure repair and seniors and displaced citizens who have lost their means to meal preparation. The village has also taken the pay as you go showers at the local campground and removed the coin meters so those without water-heaters can still get a hot shower. Joe Mahoney has arrived and is the other half of...

Media Release from the Diocese of Madison

Office of Communications

July 8, 2008

For Immediate Release

               

Diocese Continues to Address Flood Damage; Sets up Disaster Response Website

 

(Madison) - In recent weeks, the seldom-convened Disaster Response Committee of the Catholic Diocese of Madison has met several times in an attempt to assess, and to address, the needs of many still suffering from recent flooding. The Disaster Response Committee is made up of representatives from the Diocese of Madison, Catholic Charities and the Saint Vincent de Paul Society. The meetings are key to the diocese’s process of responding to this tragedy. In addition, the diocese is compiling important information on a disaster response website (linked from the diocesan homepage at: www.madisondiocese.org), and will continue to add information on this site as more information is known. Other fruits of these meetings include:

See link for full Press Release: http://www.madisondiocese.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=2bWVjtasxLI%3d&tabid=325&mid=1191

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From Tom Nelson (Interim Disaster Response Coordinator) - Barbara Kramer has called in with the news of Ft. Atkinson and Jefferson area along the flooding Rock and other area waterways. Hyway 106, East out of Ft. Atkinson is completely flooded with no visible road available. Homes can only be reached by boat and all wells are considered compromised and unsafe. Sump pumps could no longer keep up and were submerged. I asked Barbara's thoughts on calling Fr. Coyle and she requested I let her liaison due to all the additional pressure he is facing. Barb will keep us in the know and is developing a list for her own parish cluster of resourses needed immediately. Her husband Lynn has been farming along the Rock for 65 years and has never seen it this bad nor is their any documented history of this magnitude in the collective historical archives of the most senior representatives of the community.

Jefferson was several days without phones or mail service and many sections of the area are unreachable without very arduous detours. People are "on stun" and more or less just reacting to the immediate need at hand. This is of course ever-shifting and will continue for some time. All of the factories along the Rock are flooded and closed and the park is completely under water- depth at the little dairy-freeze stand on Main was just over 6 plus feet, with a strong current....

 From Tom Nelson (Interim Disaster Response Coordinator) - I have been starting to receive calls from pastors in areas that have been hard hit with the flooding- both ground water flooding and river flooding. I have told them to take names and contact info from the folks they believe need the greatest assistance and that we will suggest a mechanism for funding help as we draw the special collections to a close next weekend. The chief of police of Brodhead has called as well as the Asst. Director of Emergency Management of Green County for assistance and networking for volunteers for home clean ups. There are 5-10 homes of senior citizens who are unable to pay to have their homes decontaminated and Fr Minck has recommended they call the Rural Life office. In Ft. Atkinson, Fr. Jay Poster returned my call and is very concerned for his community. He is describing an area very hard hit and in dire need of help and support. He expressed his opinion that without a strong contribution from the Madison Area the...

From Tom Nelson (Interim Disaster Response Coordinator) - Fr. Tom Monaghan of Sacred Heart in Reedsburg has instructed his staff member Mary Williams, to return my call with an update assessment from their direct area. Mary was from the onset involved with the first responders through the local chapter of Red Cross, which had set up a shelter in the middle school. She reported that food is not a problem due to the rapid influx of stock sent in through Second Harvest and what is needed mainly is money. The Southern Baptist Conference of the area came in and held training sessions for cleanup volunteers and mobilized them throughout the community. Intown flooding was terribly destructive with over 100 homes flooded and rendered unsafe for living at this time. Actually condemned homes are at 15 and that number will most likely rise as insurrance assessors make their rounds. The flooding river water was mixed with a very toxic blend of agro-chemicals and raw sewage which has made for hazardous conditions in the cleanup....

From Tom Nelson (Interim Disaster Response Coordinator) -Report from Spring green: Spoke with Sr. Lynne Marie Simonich, Pastoral Associate at St. Luke of Plain and St. John the Evangelist, Spring Green at 3:30 pm today. She is at St. John, which was sandbagged during last Thursday's rain storms with water near the front door. The school basement was flooded and is being pumped out at this time. The school principal will call in 48 hours with an update. The water is receding about 1 inch per day and is still blocking any movement from Spring Green to Plain on the usual county trunks which are flooded and unuseable. The water was contaminated with sewage and again presents a hazardous waste cleanup situation. Home loss is at 3 being condemned and 35 unliveable - possibly until October to November. Fields and businesses along one side of Hyway 14 are closed and may not ever reopen. The next 4 days of forecasted rain could make or break the situation wide open. Farm loss in low lying areas was considerable but again...