Our tapestry is burning from wild fires in California and our tapestry is getting soaked and ravaged by the four hurricanes that have already hit the shores of the Americas in these recent weeks and our tapestry is being torn by an earthquake that Mexico experienced as well as its aftershocks. We are all reeling from the tragedies that natural disasters cause as we seek ways to mend our tapestry with the interwoven community of the VA Synod. We pray, we donate, we encourage giving for the initial response and the longer term rebuilding that takes decades. We hope that relief gets to the affected people in time to reduce the struggles that disasters bring to the communities and the businesses. Environmental damage to the communities continues after the disaster subsides. Automobiles and waste receptacles are likely to leak and contaminate the area and pollute the ground and water. There are many more ways the land and water get contaminated after the storm and its surge subsides.
In the wake of natural disasters, who suffers the most extreme and long term damage? The poor, the marginalized, the elderly and the minority group of the region. That is what I’ve seen and heard and read.
“poor citizens are most affected by disasters.” The Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress wrote an article
DISASTERS AND POVERTY
: NATURAL DISASTERS DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECT THE WORLD’S POOR. They report that:
- The poor are more likely to live in less expensive and environmentally vulnerable areas.
- Poverty is a well-known determinant of poor physical health, and the poor may therefore be more vulnerable to adverse physical health outcomes in the wake of a disaster.
- The poor often live in sub-standard housing that is more vulnerable to collapse and destruction.
- Disasters open these fault lines of a society composed of differences in economic privilege, race and religion.
- Children and women of poverty are particularly vulnerable to exploitation as they try to obtain food and safety.
- Recognizing the need for sustainable recovery is a critical ingredient of recovery over the years.
There is a website to help in preparations and recovery, but without cleared roads and a delivery process for emergency supplies to get to EVERYONE and without open communications and power to inform people and enable families to know how the other is doing, this information is much less useful.
www.ready.gov/recovering-disaster
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Those with the least lose the most, it seems to me. I wonder how we can assist the suffering ones even more effectively with initial relief. I have no answers but it behooves us to make it a necessary step to extend the reach of disaster recovery beyond the docks where the necessary supplies are delivered so that it reaches EVERYONE in a timely manner. Can we agree on that?
It is our duty as God’s people to speak in support of those who have no (or a small) voice in the decision making processes that affect them which, in turn, affects us all. Let our lives of faith speak in our communities and in the communities suffering from recent disasters and those from years ago.
I have not lived through a disaster. I have only assisted flooded communities by stocking needed supplies. To lose everything or to lose a place to live shatters lives and communities. Some children can be emotionally harmed by a disaster. All neighborhoods, wealthy and poor, need recovery. May we each find a way to support recovery for TX, MS, LA, FL, CA, Puerto Rico, and the countries suffering too. LDR offers long term assistance in recovery and our donations are used very well. Physical donations of clothing are usually a burden rather than a help.
Disaster response and recovery assistance is a justice concern when/if some people and neighborhoods are ignored or treated with less effort. The whole tapestry needs to be mended equally well to remain strong.
The Rev. Sandy Wisco is a retired pastor in the Virginia Synod, currently residing in Charlottesville VA, and is a new member on the Tapestry team.
