x
Breaking News
More () »

Conway church hosts disaster relief training in wake of flood damage

The worst part of the Arkansas River flooding may be over in some places, but now people are left to move forward with what they have.

The worst part of the Arkansas River flooding may be over in some places, but now people are left to move forward with what they have.

“We did a lot of praying,” said Claudia Williams, who's home flooded.

Williams watched the Arkansas River flood waters seep up to a foot into her Faulkner County home.

Left behind is thousands of dollars’ worth of damage.

“My bedroom, we had to clean it all out, of course the back porch, the shed,” she said.

But Williams and others walking in her shoes aren’t alone in the process.

“We are teaching people how to help those impacted by the flooding,” said Janice Mann, conference disaster response coordinator for the Arkansas United Methodist Church. “It’s typically an eight hour course, but we are trying to crunch everything into two hours.”

Conway First United Methodist Church hosted the disaster recovery training Tuesday evening.

"We are doing it very abbreviated for this event specifically,” said Mann. “It's mainly to build capacity."

A team of soon-to-be trained volunteers, through AUMC, will help hundreds of families impacted, guiding people like Williams on how to properly clean up.

“They’ll learn all types of things, from what cleaning supplies to use, what they can salvage, and things they should discard,” said Mann.

RELATED: Flood insurance scams you need to know about

“We’ll help the homeowners understand things like, don’t repair your home too fast,” said Mann. “It needs to be good and dry or you are still going to have mold problems and such."

The volunteer teams will be assigned specific jobs throughout the next several months.

"It's a blessing and it makes people feel good,” said Williams.

"We hope this is a starting point, helping them get cleaned up and then we may have resources that'll help them fill the gaps at the end, getting them back into their homes,” said Mann.

RELATED: AR River Flood relief | Where to donate, where to find assistance

About 30-50 people expressed interest in becoming a disaster relief volunteer Tuesday night.

The Arkansas Methodist Church also traveled to other areas impacted by the flooding offering the same training.

Before You Leave, Check This Out