Lutheran Church Charities Disaster Response Volunteers Arrive in Portage, Michigan, with Heavy Equipment to Support Tornado Cleanup

Lutheran Church Charities Disaster Response (DR) has been invited by Rev. Dr. Paul Naumann at St. Michael Lutheran Church in Portage, Michigan to provide chainsaw assistance and debris removal with heavy equipment. The towns of Portage and Kalamazoo experienced an EF-2 tornado with 135 mph winds on May 7 causing widespread destruction. It was on the ground for 11 miles and 300 yards wide, beginning one block south of the church.
 
On Sunday, May 19, LCC Director of Disaster Response Kathy O’Day and DR Equipment Manager Jamie Miller, along with eighteen LCC Lutheran Early Response Team (LERT) chainsaw volunteers, began a two-week deployment to assist residents affected by this tornado. This deployment is occurring only six days after LCC LERT volunteers returned from a two-week deployment to Nebraska, also for tornado response work.

LCC LERT draggers, chainsaw, and heavy equipment operators spent the last two days working at the home of a St. Michael’s congregation member who had approximately 30 trees downed and several more damaged on his property surrounding his home, as well as debris from his neighbors home which took a direct hit and was destroyed. He did not know how he would even begin to take care of the damage but is now feeling blessed to have a “church family” so willing to help him until it is cleared. 

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Mr. R. had several of his and three of his neighbor's trees all leaning and hung up in one of his trees. He and his neighbors had no idea how all of these could be taken down safely and at what cost. They were pleased with the work this LCC lift team has been doing for the past two days and the professionalism shown with their rigging techniques and lift placement to safely and efficiently remove so many of these dangerous leaning and hung trees and limbs.

St. Michael has been very welcoming to the LCC disaster response team and is willing to serve their neighbors. Please pray for all those affected and the team deployed to bring the Mercy, Compassion, Presence and Proclamation of Jesus Christ to those suffering and in need!

Thanks to You, We Are Able to BE THERE!

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