Praying for Coffeyville
Posted by Chris
My hometown and the place where Andrea & I served on staff for nearly 7 years was hit with a catastrophe over the weekend. As has been all over the news, the rain volumes which have been hitting states like KS, MO, OK & TX have caused widespread flooding throughout the midwest. Coffeyville is now no exception.
I talked on Saturday afternoon with a friend of mine who is a city commissioner and he began to tell me about the swelling river that runs alongside one side of the town and what they were frantically doing to try & get it shored up to hopefully prevent a breach in the levee. Thousands of sand bags were being created as the day wore on, the night began to set in, and the expected water level to rise above its containment sometime during the night.
The worst happened - the waters not only came over the edge, the levee also was breached and water came flooding into the east side of town. People had already been evacuated earlier in the day, but the water covered over many houses, businesses, etc. as it washed over town.
One of the worst parts is that the local petroleum refinery had a leak and crude oil emptied into the river waters as it flooded into town - causing irreparable damage to hundreds of homes. The leak caught the attention of news agencies - CNN even broadcast from the town last night. We were fortunate to be able to TiVo one of the segments...
Alec also had a chance to go up in a helicopter yesterday and take some photos of the damage. Click the picture below to see his online gallery of images...
Our prayers are with our friends in Coffeyville and the many hundreds of people who have lost homes because of the flooding. Please pray for these - many of whom were in low income situations already. Pray for First Southern Baptist Church as they house more than 100 people and provide food & shelter for those suffering during this time. Pray that God's love would be shown brightly through their good works and that God would use this catastrophe for His glory.
I talked on Saturday afternoon with a friend of mine who is a city commissioner and he began to tell me about the swelling river that runs alongside one side of the town and what they were frantically doing to try & get it shored up to hopefully prevent a breach in the levee. Thousands of sand bags were being created as the day wore on, the night began to set in, and the expected water level to rise above its containment sometime during the night.
The worst happened - the waters not only came over the edge, the levee also was breached and water came flooding into the east side of town. People had already been evacuated earlier in the day, but the water covered over many houses, businesses, etc. as it washed over town.
One of the worst parts is that the local petroleum refinery had a leak and crude oil emptied into the river waters as it flooded into town - causing irreparable damage to hundreds of homes. The leak caught the attention of news agencies - CNN even broadcast from the town last night. We were fortunate to be able to TiVo one of the segments...
Alec also had a chance to go up in a helicopter yesterday and take some photos of the damage. Click the picture below to see his online gallery of images...
Our prayers are with our friends in Coffeyville and the many hundreds of people who have lost homes because of the flooding. Please pray for these - many of whom were in low income situations already. Pray for First Southern Baptist Church as they house more than 100 people and provide food & shelter for those suffering during this time. Pray that God's love would be shown brightly through their good works and that God would use this catastrophe for His glory.
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