Disaster Assistance - Hoboken, NJ

Vihaan Gadodia, 2, is handed from a National Guard truck after he and his family left a flooded building in Hoboken, N.J., Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012, in the wake of superstorm Sandy. / AP Photo/Craig Ruttle

Extraordinary storm, extremely serious threat

Stu Ostro, Senior Meteorologist, The Weather Channel Oct 28, 2012 12:46 pm ET Graphical tropical update:Tropics Watch SANDY - History is being written as an extreme weather event continues to unfold, one which will occupy a place in the annals of weather history as one of the most extraordinary to have affected the United States. - REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE OFFICIAL DESIGNATION IS NOW OR AT/AFTER LANDFALL -- HURRICANE (INCLUDING IF "ONLY" A CATEGORY ONE), TROPICAL STORM, POST-TROPICAL, EXTRATROPICAL, WHATEVER -- OR WHAT TYPE OF WARNINGS ARE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER -- PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM NEED TO HEED THE THREAT IT POSES WITH UTMOST URGENCY.

Disaster Assistance Hurricane Sandy

Looks like most of the track models are in agreement on where landfall will be. Sandy continues to be a large and dangerous system and poses a major threat to portions of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Residents from New England to New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia should begin to prepare for Sandy. We have been in contact with churches in 7 of the states that are in the path for damage. Now we must wait and see what the needs will be.

Hurricane Sandy: Monster Threat to East Coast

The Disaster Assistance Mission is doing as much preparing as we can to be ready incase we are needed. The ingredients awaiting Hurricane Sandy appear to be coming together to create what forecasters are calling a monster combination of high wind, heavy rain, extreme tides and maybe snow that could cause havoc along the East Coast just before Halloween next week. "We looking at one of the worst storms on record that we've seen in this region," said Carl Parker, hurricane specialist for The Weather Channel.

Disaster Assistance - Hurricane Isaac - LaPlace, LA

Volunteers from Faith Village Church of Christ,Wichita Falls TX have been here helping all week.

Today we delivered another 288 care kits and 180 cleaning kits out into the flooded areas.

Today we delivered 264 personal care kits and 184 cleaning bucket kits out into the flooded areas.

Disaster Assistance a mission of the Church of Christ has the Mobile Headquarters setup at Laplace Church of Christ in Laplace, LA. This location is our central distribution site for meals, other food and supplies, volunteer coordination, cleanup and repair. We are also working with several congregations in the surrounding areas. As of 10/02 we had served 15,060 meals, completed 31 work orders. There are many more families that still need help. Over 7000 houses were flooded here in St John’s Parish alone. The Disaster Assistance Mission is also working with the St John’s Long Term Recovery Program, as of right now we have over 400 workorder request and many more coming in each day. These requests are for many different things (gutting out, replacing insulation, installing sheetrock and flooring, appliances and furniture, etc. We need skilled and un skilled labors and FUNDS to help them with this. Right now we have three locations where volunteers are being housed with meals and showers provided. As you know this has been a very busy year for us. This is the third disaster we have assisted with. We can continue to do this work of helping people whose lives have been devastated by disasters only with the financial support of our brothers and sisters across the U.S.

Today we received 800 buckets filled with cleaning supplies and 300 personal care kits. This will really help families have been asking for cleaning supplies everyday.

Below photos are of the 1st house we have volunteers putting sheetrock back in. The group that is here from Texas is doing this today.

Photo below is one of the church leaders house here at LaPlace Church of Christ. It is almost ready to have insultation and sheetrock re-installed.

Photo is Worship service today at LaPlace CoC. We had groups here from Harding and LSU at Worship than out to work. Two groups from Texas coming this week one tonight and one tomorrow. They will be installing insulation and sheetrock in houses that are ready.

Funds Needed - Hurricane Isaac - LaPlace, LA

By the first part of next week we will have several houses that will be ready to have insulation and sheetrock installed. We have two groups coming from Texas, one arrives Sunday night and the other Monday afternoon. Both of these groups will be installing insulation and sheetrock. We need your help FUNDS have been very slow in coming in.

Students here from Harding to help with cleanup and repair

Tonight around 1:30AM the group from Harding will be arriving. They will work Friday, Saturday and 1/2 day Sunday after Church. They will be coming each weekend for the next 10 or 12 weeks. Thanks so much to these college kids and their leaders.

Disaster Assistance-LaPlace, LA

Staggering numbers, below is the number of families that needed help that dosn't normally receive help. Thousands Receive D-SNAP Assistance in St. John the Baptist Parish A total of 8,342 households in St. John the Baptist Parish received DSNAP food assistance from the DCFS. DSNAP is an income eligibility based program to assist eligible households who do not receive regular SNAP benefits and who need help buying groceries due to lost income or damages following a disaster. Eligibility was determined by federal guidelines based on an individual's known or expected income, resources (such as cash on hand, saving and checking account balances) and unreimbursed disaster expenses during the disaster period of August 26 and September 24.

Volunteers and Funds needed for Disaster Assistance in LaPlace, LA

Much going on here. 301 meals today, signed up more homes to be gutted. We have found an area where the houses haven't been touched yet so the mold is expanding quickly. Most of these families did not have flood insurance. We are now working in conjunction with the town, FEMA and AmericaCorps. The two main things needed right now are volunteers and FUNDS.

Lots going on here in LaPlace, LA. We have served over 12,000 meals and gutted 23 houses. Today I talked with officials from St. John The Baptist Parish(LaPlace), FEMA and met with AmeriCorps St. Louis group. We are all going to work together on the long term recovery efforts. The estimated number of homes affected is somewhere between 6,000 – 8,000. The building next door to the church here is where the old Walmart used to be. It is now going to be the main warehouse to store supplies that are donated to the town and then hauled out to the other distribution locations. If anything comes in that we can use or hand out they can bring us a pallet over with forklift. They also have cots to sleep 200+ volunteers. Needless to say there is lots of work to be done here and we are expecting to be here for a long time. We need volunteers of all types (helpers or skilled laborers). We need your help with FUNDS to be able to tackle this massive job ahead of us. Donation information to the right. "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, ..." Matt. 25:35 We can continue to do this work of feeding hungry people whose lives have been devastated by disasters only with the financial support of our brothers and sisters across the U.S. Please pray for the thousands of people whose lives have been forever changed and for us as we show the love of the Lord to them by just providing a simple meal and supplies or helping rebuild.

We served 551 meals today. That brings our total meals served to over 12,000 in just 16 days.