As we begin our journey into Holy Week, we also have teams traveling across the TWK conference to assess the devastation left after storms on Friday night and Saturday morning.

We know churches and individuals want to assist the impacted areas. If you want to help, check on your church family and community neighbors to ensure they are safe and secure. Please contact your district offices with church and community reports.

We know there is damage in multiple counties in the west and middle part of the conference. Tipton, Haywood, McNairy, Hardin, and Hardeman Counties in the Metro, Mississippi River, and Tennessee River districts. Nine deaths were reported by the department of health in McNairy county. One death has been reported in Tipton County.

There is damage in Rutherford, Cannon, Lewis, and Wayne Counties in Middle Tennessee. There are 30 homes with significant damage and 10 homes destroyed in Rutherford County. 

There is some damage on the Cannon County line with Rutherford County. There are homes damaged in Lewis and Wayne Counties in the Harpeth River District. 

In some areas, we still are not sure about the extent and impact of the storms due to closed roads in the area. 

Any information we can gather from our local churches and clergy would be greatly appreciated. Please share the below information, as appropriate, with your district office and with the disaster response team at DisasterResponse@twkumc.org. Thank you.

• Who is the point of contact at your church for emergency operations (i.e. who can facilitate volunteers or material needs if requested)? 

• If we have a call for UMCOR kits and supplies (cleaning buckets, hygiene kits, etc.) can your church in-take these supplies and store them until these supplies are needed?

• Can members of your church walk their local neighborhoods impacted by the storms and provide us with visual damage assessments for residences?

• Please let your local community government leadership and churches know that the TWKUMC and UMCOR are equipped to assist in these early days of response all the way through the long-term recovery efforts. Our teams will be there to help until the disaster is closed, which will take years in some communities. 

• Financial contributions to assist with the purchase of supplies are appreciated and fairly distributed. Individuals and churches may contribute to TWK Disaster Response online or by sending checks to the conference office: TWK Disaster Response, P.O. Box 440132, Nashville, TN  37244-0132.

Please continue to pray for all those affected by these storms - and please remain storm-aware so you can keep your family safe. Our area seems particularly vulnerable to severe weather. All of your assistance is greatly appreciated.

By Tyler Nicodem, TWK Disaster Recovery Volunteer Coordinator

In December 2021 a tornado touched down and ripped through western TN and KY. Downtown Mayfield was destroyed, Dresden was severely affected, and many homes were either destroyed or damaged. Many organizations and volunteers rushed to these areas to provide relief from this disaster. Survivors experienced the heroism of the combined efforts of organizations and volunteers in helping those affected by the tornadoes to survive the initial shock. 

Fast forward to November 2022–many of those organizations have left and volunteers have gone back to their homes or moved to the next disaster area. There is a large gap in the recovery of survivors from the 2021 tornadoes. The TWK conference recognized this gap and responded by building a team focused on disaster recovery in the affected areas. During the second week of November 2022, the conference hosted its first volunteer groups in its newly expanded disaster relief efforts. The volunteers were in Dresden, TN helping two surviving families recover from the tornadoes. The teams blessed these families with their hard work! Volunteers helped install a new roof, siding, flooring, drywall, paint, and even fixed foundation issues.

Volunteers are the backbone of disaster recovery. Without volunteers the work is limited. The teams that served helped save the conference nearly $14,000 in labor costs. That money can now be used to help further the efforts of helping survivors recover from disasters. We encourage you to come make a difference in the lives of survivors! We need people like you to help those affected by disasters experience recovery.