| UM team delivers rapid response By Melissa Lauber UMConnection Staff United Methodists are known for being the last people to leave a disaster site, remaining to help long after others have moved on. But when the tornado hit La Plata, the United Methodists Church was the first faith group to arrive and begin relief efforts. This effort in La Plata was the maiden run of the Baltimore-Washington Conferences First Response Team and its trailer, which was outfitted by individuals and churches from throughout the conference, reported the Rev. Bill Herche, conference disaster response coordinator.  Herche activated the team two days after the tornado struck on April 28. By that time, emergency workers had completed search and rescue efforts and begun clean-up work. The tornado damaged more than 1,000 buildings in Calvert and Charles counties and destroyed the steeple, roof, and education and preschool building of La Plata UMC. Five people were killed as a result of the storm that had winds of 260-miles-per-hour. Eight members of the 30-member first response team made their way to La Plata. They lived for the next five days at Lakeside UMC in Waldorf. Five members of the team stayed on for an additional week. Members of Lakeside provide meals for the team. The women slept in a classroom and the men in the fellowship hall. Of course we welcomed them with open arms, said Lakesides pastor, the Rev. Sandra Taylor. Thats why were here. Initially, the team did clean-up work, debris removal and temporary repairs. Major repairs would have affected the damage assessment of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the grants that people will receive, explained Liz Monahan-Gibson, a FEMA representative. The teams job was to make homes safe, secure and sanitary, said Brian Lewis, an UMCOR consultant. UMCOR consultants were invited to La Plata at the request of Bishop Felton Edwin May to help in the conference relief efforts. At its initial stop, the First Response Team encountered a family preparing to write a check for $1,000 to have a company work for half-a-day to clean up their front yard. The team stepped in and did the work, in the name of Christ, for free, said team leader Sandy Rowland. Rowland, of Mt. Zion UMC in Charlestown, W.Va., is a veteran of disaster relief and Volunteers in Mission work. While it is important to remove debris, people are hungry for the opportunity to tell their stories, she said. At one home, the team listened as a man shared how his wife was in the hospital when the tornado struck. Their yard was damaged. While the team cleaned up, they also listened. We prayed with him, said Roxanne Terry a team member from Otterbein UMC in Hagerstown. We shared tears and maybe we brought a little hope. The team also met several people from the community who were volunteering to assist their neighbors in the relief efforts. Rowland, a widow, met another woman who had recently lost her husband. We shared that, Rowland said. Its the sharing that makes the difference. Your presence there was important. You were the church and you were visible, said the Rev. Fred Tolson, an UMCOR consultant from Alabama, who came to Lakeside to provide additional first-response training. Six United Methodists from surrounding churches completed the training on the morning of May 8. That afternoon, they went to work clearing debris. The clean-up and recovery phase of the disaster is drawing to a close, reported the Rev. Sheldon Reese, the Washington East District disaster relief coordinator. While in many instances, the rebuilding phase would start and go on for years, La Plata and southern Maryland are unique in that 98 percent of the property destroyed was insured, Reese said. Because insurance will cover most of the damage, there wont be as much need for the assistance of faith-based groups as there has been in previous disasters. However, if Volunteers in Mission teams are needed, Reese will appeal for help through e-connection, the conferences electronic newsletter, he said. United Methodists have a wonderful reputation in the disaster relief community, Monahan-Gibson said. They consistently respond. FEMA can count on United Methodists to be there. United Methodists are very low profile about their work. They just do a good job and leave the spotlight to others. Its a community thing, members of the First Response Team concluded. Were here because God calls us to be. | 
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