More than 250 people have died from floods in Chennai, India after days of intense rain. Here are updates from HOPE worldwide and the Chennai church:
From Ian Correa, HOPE worldwide India:
The situation is grim. We are drawing encouragement from the churches in India, who are stepping forward to help with a Sunday collection and volunteers. The disciples and HOPEww workers have already distributed 60,000 meals and toiletries and will soon be distributing another 120,000 meals.
Our goal is to set up two community kitchens and two clinics to meet immediate and longer terms needs. It is looking very likely that our partners will support these initiatives.
Two buses will be leaving with volunteers from Bangalore next week. The team will include disciples, our friends and HOPEww workers.
We request prayers for their safety, the work on the ground and for the ongoing opening of doors.
From Jerry Uttangi, evangelist, Chennai Church of Christ:
After the successive depressions and consequent rains Chennai disciples are trying to recover from the losses. Many areas are still without electricity and communication. Today we heard of an electrcian who got electrocuted as he was helping reconnect the electricity. In many places we have to use boats to travel. Thousands have lost their belongings, houses, and friends and family.
Some of the situations of the disciples are given below:
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A sister named Meera who lived in a house along the river had her house fully submerged in water.
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Brothers went to Choolaimedu to help out water-logged families. One of the leader's houses was surrounded by water. He swam out to meet the brothers and to collect the provisions .
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Joseph and Uma, family group leaders of the Pulianthope ministry, had to vacate their house at 10 pm once they found that there was four feet of water in their house.They had to carry their children and move to their relatives' house. Today they were supplied with food packets supplied by HOPE worldwide. Joseph's motorcycle is spoiled by the water and he will not be able to go to work till it gets repaired. Mechanics are not easy to find as well.
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At Basin Bridge, the earlier rains had water-logged the houses of some of the sisters. This time they had to vacate their houses, but they wanted to be close to their house in order to protect their meager belongings.
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Kalpanna and family had to vacate their house because of flooding. Fortunately, they could rent another house opposite to their old house which was on the ground floor.
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Abraham and Julie's house had one foot of water and had to move to the first floor. The flooding messed up the water storage in the underground tank which will have to be disinfected before use.
