OBI workers map areas in need of help. OBI has set up a volunteer reception and a command center at the Wabash Valley Fairgrounds in Terre Haute, which can accommodate up to 100 volunteers a night.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Operation Blessing disaster relief crews have been chosen to coordinate and manage all flood relief and recovery volunteer efforts in Vigo County and the city of Terre Haute.

Already rising floodwaters in the Midwest have claimed the lives of 13 people and forced hundreds from their homes.

Flash flood warnings are in effect from Michigan to Texas as rivers swell beyond their banks and levees are breeched and cracking under pressure.

Operation Blessing crews arrived on-scene in Terra Haute, Indiana, last week to help aid the victims and assist area workers in debris clean up.

"One strategic service we offer to communities stricken by disaster is our expertise in crisis management and volunteer coordination," said OBI President Bill Horan. "There are lots of people and companies that would like to help flood victims, but don’t know how. OBI helps focus that energy."

Horan and other OBI officials met with Indiana governor, Mitch Daniels, as well as Kevin Cox, president of Indiana Voluntary Organizations Active In Disaster; Duke Bennett, the mayor of Terre Haute; the American Red Cross, and other federal, state and local officials this week.

Based on OBI’s years of providing relief efforts for some of the biggest disasters around the world, area leaders decided OBI workers should coordinate and manage all volunteers helping with relief and recovery.

Operation Blessing disaster relief crews have been chosen to coordinate and manage all flood relief and recovery volunteer efforts in Vigo County and the city of Terre Haute.

"Operation Blessing International brings thirty years of expertise in disaster relief efforts all around the world," said Horan.

OBI has set up a volunteer reception and a command center at the Wabash Valley Fairgrounds in Terre Haute, which can accommodate up to 100 volunteers a night.

In addition, OBI also brought in construction equipment, tools, a tractor-trailer loaded with 24,000 pounds of food and disaster relief supplies, a shower trailer, and a second truck with 24,000 pounds of diapers.

Moreover, OBI also partnered with the local health department in order to provide residents with well-water testing kits. Overflowing rivers and streams have contaminated many of the water sources leaving the contents unfit for consumption.

Today, OBI is setting up a point of distribution at a local warehouse to provide flood victims with supplies, personal hygiene items and the well-water testing kits.

Volunteers, both local and from out of town, are critically needed for home recovery efforts including pumping water out of basements, gutting of interior surfaces and debris and mud removal.

"We are starting to encounter many of the same problems with houses here that we saw immediately after Hurricane Katrina, especially interior mud accumulations and mold-infestation," said Jody Herrington, director of U.S. disaster relief operations for OBI.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
You can help by making an online donation toward OBI's disaster relief efforts. With your support, we can continue to provide emergency relief and recovery. Please make an on-line donation today.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 1997- 2008 by Operation Blessing International of this page and all contents. No part of this site may be used without prior written consent from OBI. All Rights Reserved. Questions or comments? Email us at operation.blessing@ob.org.