Christian groups help clean up Fay's mess in Florida

Christian groups are preparing for post-Fay relief work in Florida after the tropical storm downgraded to tropical depression and left the state for other Gulf Coast cities on Saturday.

Groups such as the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and The Salvation Army will be delivering special support to storm and flood victims in affected areas over the next few days.

"We are receiving reports of catastrophic flooding and debris in parts of the state," said Marilyn Swanson, director of Disaster Recovery Ministry for the United Methodist Church's Florida Annual (regional) Conference, in a report Friday. "We are trying to anticipate the needs that will be arising in the next few days."

UMCOR will provide flood buckets filled with clean-up supplies to Florida homeowners. It has 1,400 buckets stored in a warehouse in Madison, located about an hour away from Tallahassee. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) tarps are also pre-positioned in churches.

United Methodists are also re-stocking their local food pantry or food bank.

If needed, relief teams will be mobilised by the United Methodist Volunteers in Mission.

Though tropical storm Fay did not have the strength of a hurricane, it did cause severe damage in Florida, including at least 11 deaths in the state. Overall, the death toll for Fay is at least 35, with a total of 23 deaths in Haiti and the Dominican Republic from flooding, according to The Associated Press.

Fay was unique in that it made a record of four landfalls, taking nearly a week to zigzag through the peninsula. Fay was the first storm in nearly 50 years to make three landfalls in the state as a tropical storm. Its historic fourth landfall occurred early Saturday about 15 miles northwest of Apalachicola, Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Although Fay was not dangerous for its wind speed, its heavy rainfall posed a great threat to residents.

In southern Glades County, Fay dropped more than 15 inches of rain. And more than 33,000 Florida residents were without power on August 21, including 10,000 in Brevard County alone.

"This is unprecedented in terms of the slow nature of this storm, the large circulation and the fact that it's impacted probably about 90 per cent of the state with heavy rains and severe weather," state meteorologist Ben Nelson said, according to AP.

According to Mark Thomas, director of the Florida Annual Conference's Department of Ministry Protection, four United Methodist churches have reported minor damages, including one that was looted during the storm.

The Salvation Army's Emergency Disaster Services teams in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, meanwhile, have stocked up on clean-up kits containing brooms, mops, buckets and cleaning supplies in the event of damage to homes and businesses.

The evangelical ministry is working closely with federal, state and local emergency management agencies to provide food and other essential supplies to affected people.

Its mobile feeding units are on preparedness alert to deliver needed items to flood victims.

Other potential services include sheltering, emotional and spiritual care, and long-term disaster social services.

Tropical depression Fay was expected to pour heavy rain on southern Alabama and Mississippi on Sunday.