The Salvation Army at Work

BRAZIL:

Brazilian Government’s Civil Defense Authority (CDA) has asked The Salvation Army to provide emergency relief to the victims of the floods and mudslides that have killed more than 500 people in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Salvationists and volunteer helpers will be providing physical, emotional and spiritual relief in areas designated by the CDA. Access to the three affected towns, between 60 kilometres and 130 kilometres from the city of Rio de Janeiro, is difficult with a number of roads destroyed by the mudslides. Collection points where food and other necessary supplies can be donated are being established in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The Salvation Army’s Territorial Communications Director for Brazil, Major Teofilo Chagas, is coordinating the Army’s response. Volunteers from the community service organisation Rotary are assisting The Salvation Army in its relief effort.

SRI LANKA:

HUNDREDS of thousands of people have been displaced by flooding in eastern and central Sri Lanka. Water levels in some areas are two metres higher than usual – and still rising. Crocodiles and snakes are a threat to anyone walking through the floodwaters. Salvation Army personnel are working with government officials to determine specific needs. Salvationists are already providing meals at some of the relocation camps and offering basic assistance to people in the affected areas near Salvation Army centres. The Salvation Army International Headquarters (IHQ) has launched an appeal for funds to assist the relief efforts. IHQ has sent an initial US$20,000 to The Salvation Army in Sri Lanka. A member of the International Emergency Services team is travelling to Sri Lanka to provide assessment and planning support. The United Nations Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has reported that more than a million people have been affected. At least 27 people have died with many more injured. More than 325,000 people have been forced to leave their homes. They are accommodated at 493 temporary relocation centres in eight districts. On the eastern side of Sri Lanka the district of Batticaloa, with 122,047 internally displaced persons, remains one of the most affected areas. The number of displaced people may increase as there are some areas where access has not been gained because of flooded roads and mudslides. Many areas are only accessible by boat and military helicopters.Preceded by more than a week of intense wet weather, four days of non-stop heavy rain from 9 January have turned a portion of Sri Lanka into an ever-deepening lake. Some reservoirs have burst their banks destroying rice paddy fields. More heavy rain is expected in these areas during the next 36 hours.

FLOOD RELIEF CONTINUES IN AUSTRALIASALVATION Army emergency relief volunteers in the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales (NSW) are working around the clock providing assistance to the tens of thousands of people who have been affected by the current flood crisis. There have been 19 confirmed deaths with at least 61 people still missing.In most areas this is the worst flooding for 36 years. A number of Salvation Army properties have been affected. Around 12,000 homes and 2,500 businesses have been flooded in the Brisbane area alone with 118,000 buildings without electricity.More than 75 percent of Queensland is under flood and adjacent northern areas of NSW are also affected. Rivers have now peaked in many parts of Queensland and residents and emergency workers have begun the massive cleanup operations. Plans are now being put into place for the long-term re-building phase. The Salvation Army will have direct input into the long-term recovery plans. Major Rick Hoffmann, Divisional Secretary for the South Queensland Division, has been appointed to the Queensland Flood Recovery Task Force. The major’s appointment was made in response to a letter from Queensland Premier Anna Bligh to Australia Eastern Territorial Commander Commissioner Linda Bond, asking her to nominate a representative to this task force. The Salvation Army emergency services teams continue to work tirelessly to feed flood victims, volunteers and State Emergency Service workers as well as providing comfort to the grieving. In the Brisbane area the Army is ministering at five major evacuation centres – caring daily for more than 2,000 people. More than 200 residents of a Salvation Army aged care facility on the outskirts of Brisbane are among the many thousands of people who have been evacuated.Salvation Army captain, Mark Bulow, was in the country city of Toowoomba when a (up to eight-metre high, kilometre wide) devastating wall of water hit on 10 January. ‘Toowoomba is at the top of the mountain range, we never flood,’ he said. ‘Nobody had ever previously witnessed what we saw on that day. You could hear the wall of water before you could see it. Some kids were playing in the water on the side of the road and people were just yelling at them to get out of the way. Within seconds, cars, industrial containers and other huge objects were being swept down by this torrent of water.‘People were in shock. We couldn’t believe it and everyone just went quiet. I just thought, “Is this really happening?” It was one of those things you never, ever want to see again. I felt so helpless.’Now Captains Mark and Jo-Anne (his wife), together with their emergency services teams, are involved in the relief and clean up effort. ‘We are also spending time with a man whose wife and two of his children lost their lives when the flood waters swept away the car in which they were travelling.’Salvation Army emergency services teams from Toowoomba have been providing relief in a number of smaller country towns up to four hours drive away. ‘Everyone is pulling together and we are inundated with community people offering help. These include physiotherapists and counsellors,’ said Captain Bulow. Meanwhile at Ipswich, Majors Bruce and Margaret Dobbie returned home after 11 days of relief work in flood-stricken Rockhampton (600 kilometres north) just in time to be involved in the flood relief at one of the four evacuation centres in their own city. Salvation Army emergency service teams from non-flood affected areas of Australia are now arriving in Queensland to assist the relief effort. The emergency relief will be required for many days until houses are habitable enough for residents to return home.