Debris left behind by the flooding. Photo: Rob Moreland, PDA National Response Team member.

Over the last two months floodwaters have inundated significant areas of Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Iowa. Thousands of families have been displaced due to the flooding. Some of the hardest hit residents have been low-income families struggling to make ends meet even before they found themselves flooded from their homes. Many do not have insurance or do not have adequate insurance to rebuild or repair their homes.

Charles W. Spencer, Executive Presbyter, Heartland Presbytery stated that about half of the homes in the community of Osawatomie, Kansas received some damage. Local news reports that “Hundreds of homes have been damaged or destroyed in the recent flood, and many residents have no flood insurance.”

One Great Hour of Sharing and designated funds from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) are at work throughout the Midwest. $90,000 has been sent to eight different presbyteries affected by flooding. Six members of the PDA National Response Team have been deployed to the affected areas to serve as resources, to provide assistance as needed to presbyteries and congregations active in the relief and recovery efforts, and to represent the care and concern of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)