Volunteers needed to help Springville residents Springville Community Flood Cleanup Saturday
Volunteers are needed to help Springville residents and flood victims as they work to clear mud, sand and debris from their homes Saturday, March 25, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteers are asked to meet in the parking lot of Springville School before going to the affected areas.
Christie Means, a Springville resident, had water flood her home, which is across a street from the Tule River.
“I had nine inches to probably 18 inches throughout my whole house,” Means said. “My parents live on the river, right across the street from my house. Theirs did better than mine, as far as the living portion of their home. Their basement had seven feet of water in it. People have been there just shoveling and shoveling dirt from my parents’ house. My house will be a gut job. It will have to be rebuilt.”
Means said she’s lived in the house for 50 years and the river never came that close to flooding.
“We had literally 30 minutes to grab the animals and my kids and get out,” Means said, of the morning of March 10. “I was here getting ready for work and my mom called at five o’clock in the morning and said the river is coming up really fast and we’re evacuating. I jumped in the shower and started to get ready and I just wasn’t expecting it to come across the road. I woke up my kids and grabbed stuff. We barely got my son’s car out when my neighbor came running and people came to the door and told us to get out!”
Means said she’s exhausted and has had maybe five hours of sleep because every day is spent going through the remains of her home, hosing off what can be salvaged, and throwing away items that can’t be saved.
“The only help I’ve received is from the community and friends,” Means said. “The Lions Club and the Women’s Club provided lunch and dinner for everyone. They were great!”
Means said local churches, such as the First Baptist Church of Springville and the Sequoia Worship Center have helped as well as community members and friends who she can’t thank enough.
“The community has been great,” Means said. “They have brought in supplies, such as totes, trash bags, food and bleach for all of the mold growing in my house.”
Means said she also heard a group called Team Rubicon will be volunteering today through March 29 to help Springville residents as well.
Pastor Chris Ferrell, of Lighthouse Chapel in Springville, said there was a relief effort that took place this past Saturday.
“There is a group out of Springfield, Missouri, that collects goods and items and tries to deliver them to an area having some form of tragedy to help out people,” Ferrell said of Convoy of Hope. “They work through the churches in the local area and that gives the church the opportunity to reach out if they see a need to fill it. They called us and we said we’d love to host them.”
Ferrell said the organization, Convoy of Hope, put together a group of individuals and sent a truck with 31 pallets of relief materials, cleaning supplies, shovels, food and water, which was distributed among the community at Springville School.
“It’s kind of like 9/11 when you saw the country come together because of a tragedy,” Ferrell said. “Here we are praying for water and we get it in massive numbers and it created its own problems, but some people were drastically hit by it to the point of losing their entire homes and automobiles and it created a mess for others. For some, it was just transportation issues they had to deal with. The bottom line is everyone got together and the whole town seemed to gather. More people came together to distribute the goods than people who picked them up and needed them. It was wonderful to see. All of the churches got together and worked together as one.”
Melissa Cohea, a member of the First Baptist Church of Springville, said people are volunteering every day to help community members.
“Porches are off houses,” Cohea said of the damage. “There’s sand that’s so high that you can’t even open the doors to some of the homes, or get into them. The ones that are closer to the sewer plant got hit hard. There is one on Globe and 190 and other places that have flooded on Balch Park Road.”
Cohea said on Saturday volunteers will be shoveling dirt and removing carpet and debris.
“There’s so much debris, it’s incredible,” she said. “Water is so strong! It moved porches and cement pads that are 15-by-15 feet. Boulders. Some things people can’t move, we will need tractors for certain things.”
Cohea said people have been working every day.
“We’ve had all kinds of volunteers,” she said. “From the Lions Club, Women’s Club and the First Baptist Church have taken hot meals.”
Bags of food have come from PACC, Porterville Area Coordinating Council, Cohea said. There has been oranges from Freeborn Farms and help from the Springville Church of the Nazarene.
“Grocery Outlet provided food and donated,” she said. “Helping Hands. God has brought it all together.”
Cohea said the community has come together as well.
“That’s what I love about Springville,” she said. “Even though something happened at school, I knew before my kids got off the bus. I love the love that people have for one another.”
Cohea encourages volunteers to wear rubber boots, gloves, masks, shovels and disinfecting products.
“Everyone is welcome,” Cohea said. “The more help we have the more we get done. Anyone who wants to help we’d love their help and appreciate it!”
Cohea said volunteers, or people who were affected by the flood and who need help can call, or text her at 559-7197062.
“Every time I go doorto-door checking on people, I find at least one person who says ‘You’re the first person who has checked on me,’” she said. “I know I am not the only one who had that experience, Pastor Jeremy (Creech) had it happen on Saturday.”
Cohea said Creech were so moved his service for the Sequoia Worship Center on Sunday was spent helping people from the flood.
Details about Saturday’s event are available on Justserve.org under Springville Community Flood Cleanup for any volunteer interested in registering for it.