All Iowa Presbyteries Affected By Recent Flooding

According to the Aug. 16 map released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, all six presbyteries with all or portions of their geography in Iowa have a county with a federal disaster assistance designation for either public or individual assistance. In total, 19 of the 25 counties in the Presbytery of Des Moines received disaster assistance designation, 11 of 19 in Prospect Hill, 11 of 24 in North Central Iowa, six of 16 in East Iowa, four of six in John Knox, and three of seven in Missouri River Valley.

A total of 32 counties in Iowa are now eligible for individual federal assistance to help communities recover from recent severe storms, tornadoes and flooding, according to an Aug. 17 FEMA announcement. Assistance may include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster. Residents and business owners who sustained losses in the designated counties may register for assistance anytime at the FEMA Web site. (Reprinted from the August 23rd, Synod of Lakes and Prairies Keeping In Touch e-newsletter. To subscribe, contact Editor Duane Sweep, dsweep@lakesandprairies.org.)

Prayers are needed for church members in the Des Moines Presbytery who experienced water damage:

• Ankeny Presbyterian Church
• Knox United Presbyterian Church in Des Moines
• First Presbyterian Church in Monroe
• First Presbyterian Church in Newton
• United Presbyterian Church in Newton
• First Presbyterian Church in Oskaloosa
• East End Presbyterian Church in Ottumwa
• First Presbyterian Church in Ottumwa
• Westminster Presbyterian Church in Ottumwa
• First United Presbyterian Church in Winterset

If you know of others who are suffering and are having a hard time cleaning up water damage from either floods or excess water after the rains in July and August, please contact the Presbytery of Des Moines Office at 515-276-9991, pbydesmoines@presbyteryofdesmoines.org. There are teams standing by to help clean and muck out.

We are also willing to store clean-up buckets at our Presbytery Office. If you have any, you can bring them to 2400 86th St., Ste. #20, Urbandale, IA 50322. The ‘recipe’ is online at: http://gamc.pcusa.org/ministries/pda/making-gift-heart-kits/#bucket or www.churchworldservice.org/site/PageServer?pagename=kits_emergency.