Jenny and I both accompanied bus tours of the flood damage as chaplains yesterday. The following points were shared with those on the bus tour:
"The damage you will be seeing throughout this tour will be almost overwhelming."
"We have all seen the video of the damage done by Hurrican Katrina, and the tornado in Greensburg."
"The damage that this flood did to our community is every bit as devastationg — in a bit of [a] different way — as the damage done by those storms."
"It is not going to be easy to look at. It is not going to be easy to realize that many of these homes will never be able to be repaired and occupied."
"There will be a number of assessments made in the near future about the structural stability of the homes, and the extent of [the] damage that the mold on the inside of the homes [has] done."
"We can't say right now which homes may be repairable and which ones won't, but [sic]those assessments will take time."
"One of the things that will have to happen before the search crews being able to enter [sic] the homes and ensure that there are no additional victims — before you are able to go into your home to remove any of the property which you may be able to save, is that the house will have to be adequately ventilated for anyone to go inside."
"The search teams will be using a process of graduated force to safely enter the homes. In some cases, this will involve turning the knob on a door or doors. In some cases, it will involve having to force the door open."
"In some cases, it may involve breaking out windows to ensure that the structure is sufficiently ventilated to allow the search crews — and in a few days you — to enter the home safely."
"I can assure you that these crews will not use any more force than is absolutely necessary to make these structures safe for the search crews to enter — and for you to go in and get your property."
During a Ministerial Alliance meeting, Jeff Morris, Coffeyville City Manager, shared that in some houses, mold growing inside has used up all the oxygen. (This is determined by sticking a handheld oxygen sensor through an open door.) Search Teams cannot open a window from the inside because they would never make it to the window. In such a case, windows must be broken from the outside. Such breakage is being kept to a minimum.
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