News Releases

LSA Member Organizations Prepare for Flooding in North Dakota, Minnesota

March 27, 2009 (Baltimore, MD) - LSA members in North Dakota and Minnesota are bracing for record flooding this weekend. Many organizations have already evacuated buildings and others are keeping a sharp eye on the situation. In Fargo, the National Weather Service is predicting the Red River will crest at 1:00 pm on Saturday and may hold for three days. The crest is forecast to be above that of devastating floods in 1997 and may surpass levels recorded more than a century ago.

Among the members significantly affected is Eventide, which has evacuated 190 residents in both its Moorhead, Minnesota campuses to other skilled care facilities in the region. Like good neighbors, other LSA members, including Knute Nelson and Good SamaritanSociety, have made room for these residents. Bethany Homes evacuated its facilities in Fargo and Moorhead, North Dakota.

Many LSA member organizations manage their disaster response in coordination with Lutheran Disaster Response, which continually updates its reports on affected areas.

A Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota staff member visiting affected flood areas in Crookston, Minnesota, writes, “Our Ada senior living services home in the countryside is isolated by water. Staff are working 24 hours shifts and our supervisor cannot get to her own home and is staying in town with family.” She also notes that a number of roads are closed and that residents are feeling the affect of the crisis. “We took in a person who was traumatized from the evacuation and could not stay alone.”

The Fargo Center of Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota is closed but at this time other program offices are open. Bob Sanderson, along with many others from LSS, is participating in Fargo sand bagging efforts. LSS- North Dakota is active in disaster work and the LSS North Dakota website offers timely flood-related information.

LSS Minnesota is calling on congregations statewide to mobilize volunteer teams to prepare for deployment to the Red River Valley for clean-up and longer-term recovery work. Typically LSS works in affected-areas over many months, sometimes years, to help Minnesotans in the immediate aftermath of a disaster and longer-term rebuilding recovery.

Lutheran Services in America (LSA) creates opportunities with people in thousands of communities in all 50 states and the Caribbean as an alliance of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, and their nearly 300 health and human service organizations. Working neighbor to neighbor through health care, aging and disability supports, community development, housing, and child and family strengthening, these organizations touch the lives of more than six million people every year – or one in 50 Americans – and have operating budgets in excess of $10 billion. Through these efforts LSA is on the front lines of building self-sufficiency and creating hope in millions of lives. More information about LSA and its members is available at www.lutheranservices.org.

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