Lake City, Fla. – The Lake City Regional Office of Catholic Charities has been designated a lead agency for disaster recovery in Columbia County west of Jacksonville following flooding there brought in by Tropical Storm Debby in June.

Although Hurricane Isaac recently became a major concern across the country, Debby caused extensive flooding, several tornadoes and high winds across much of the state in early summer.

On June 24, Debby produced torrential rainfall throughout the state of Florida, resulting in significant flooding, especially in North Central and Northeast Florida. In some areas of North Florida, more than 20
inches of precipitation was recorded.

“We still have 200 homes underwater and not accessible to begin the recovery process,” said Suzanne Edwards, chief operating officer of the Lake City Regional Office of Catholic Charities.

Catholic Charities and other responders are still waiting for water to recede in areas to begin the recovery and the rebuilding process. There are 4,000 homes in various stages of recovery and those without flood insurance are being urged to file claims with the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) by Sept. 4, 2012.

Federal disaster assistance helps eligible applicants with temporary housing, uninsured personal property losses and medical, dental and funeral expenses caused by the disaster, along with other disaster related
expenses and serious needs.

For its part, Catholic Charities responded to the storm by establishing five food and water distribution truck stations. A $10,000 grant from the Buck Rogers Foundation helped Catholic Charities provide new shoes and school supplies for flood victims for up to 200 children.

“Going back to school is a special time for students and with a poor economy families are hard pressed to provide new school supplies and shoes. Much of what they own was destroyed,” Edwards said.

The Lake City region of Catholic Charities includes Columbia, Hamilton, Union, Suwannee and Lafayette counties with their office based in Columbia County.

“The ground is so saturated they can’t pump water out. The water is not going down and 300 sinkholes opened up across the region,” Edwards said. “What we really need is for the outside communities to volunteer their time and provide donations to allow the agency to continue to seek construction assistance and manage getting families back in their homes.”

Separately, an anonymous donor from the local Catholic community gave Catholic Charities $100,000 in gasoline voucher cards in the amount of $100 each for the agency to manage and distribute to displaced families. And the T.D. Bank in Lake City provided another $10,000 in assistance.

Florida’s statewide disaster coordinator for Catholic Charities, Gabe Tischler, worried the situation in Lake City hadn’t received enough sustained media attention and that the Hurricane Isaac situation might overshadow the flood damage to this North Florida community. He spent a couple of weeks there before shifting his attention to Isaac’s impact.

“There are almost 3,000 people who signed up for FEMA – meaning they did not have homeowners insurance,” said Tischler, a Florida native who worked for more than 15 months as Catholic Charities relief
coordinator in Joplin, Mo., following the devastating 2011 tornado in southern Missouri.

Relief workers are also concerned about reaching out with information and assistance to migrant farm workers and Hispanics in the area. After Tropical Storm Debby, Catholic Charities invited FEMA staff to speak before and after Mass at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Live Oak in order to share information in Spanish and invite them to file for federal assistance.

Edwards said Hurricane Isaac had not caused further flooding problems in the Lake City area and that her heart went out to the people of the Gulf Coast states affected by the new storm. “I have had many years of
hurricane experience in Florida and have seen how severe and devastating flooding can be.

“One of the huge issues that we all become anemic too is preparation. We have to educate people to have a good preparedness plan for supplies and protecting your important papers,” she said.

Anyone who has not registered with FEMA for disaster, has questions about their application or needs more information about recovery programs should call FEMA’s toll-free helpline at 800-621-FEMA (3362).

Online registration is available at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or through a smartphone or tablet at m.fema.gov.

To reach Suzanne Edwards at Catholic Charities in Lake City, email: cclc@bellsouth.net or call (386) 754-9180 or visit their office at 258 NW Burk Ave., Lake City, FL 32055.