Catholic Charities of St. Louis is preparing to assist those impacted by flooding caused by heavy rains that fell during the last weekend of April 2017.  Already, hundreds of households in the 11 counties of the Archdiocese of St. Louis have been affected.

More than 6 inches of rain fell at St. Louis Lambert International Airport from Friday April 28 through Monday May 1, 2017 with some areas getting more than 10 inches during that time.  Localized flash flooding and low-lying flooding has been replaced with creek and river flooding with crests expected later this week on the Meramec River, impacting Sullivan, Pacific, Eureka and Valley Park.

“This flooding is especially hard because these are many of the communities impacted by historic flooding in December 2015 and January 2016.” Theresa Ruzicka, President of Catholic Charities also said, “Since we are still assisting many families from the New Year 2016 flood, our case managers and disaster response team are very aware of the needs families will have for the long-term.”

“It is hard to imagine families who were on their way to rebuilding their lives from flooding 2 years ago, and now to have to deal with the anxiety again,” said Director of Service Integration Tyrone Ford.  Currently communities are working to fend off the rising Meramec River through sandbagging and other preparation efforts.  “As residents and volunteers work to protect communities from the rising flood waters, Catholic Charities is in constant contact with many other disaster relief agencies in the St. Louis region to be ready to assist those in need when the flood recedes.” Ford added, “Catholic Charities and our collaborative partners will be ready to open one or more multi-agency resource centers (MARCs) to help those impacted.”

As of right now, a collaboration of organizations will be gathering together to do 5 MARC in 3 counties (St. Louis County, Franklin County, Jefferson County) of our Archdiocese. Below are the dates and locations of each MARC:

1. Friday, 5/12 – Valley Park, St. Louis County – Manchester United Methodist Church – 129 Woods Mill Road Ballwin, MO 63011
2. Saturday, 5/13 – Valley Park, St. Louis County – Manchester United Methodist Church – 129 Woods Mill Road Ballwin, MO 63011
3. Monday, 5/15 – Pacific, Franklin County – Pacific Eagles – 707 West Congress Pacific, MO 63069
4. Tuesday, 5/16 – House Springs, Jefferson County – Northwest Valley Middle School – 4300 Gravois Road House Springs, MO 63051
5. Thursday, 5/18 – Arnold, Jefferson County – Arnold First Baptist Church – 2012 Missouri State Road Arnold, MO 63010

A special fund has been set up to help with flood relief efforts.  Donations can be made to Catholic Charities of St. Louis by mailing a check to P.O. Box 952393 St. Louis, Missouri 63195 and indicate ‘May 2017 Flood Relief’ in the memo line or visit www.ccstl.org and select the ‘May 2017 Flood Relief’ fund on the donate page.

 About Catholic Charities of St. Louis: Catholic Charities has been helping people in need since 1912. Organized as a federation of eight agencies, Catholic Charities assists more than 136,000 people annually in the 11 counties of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Catholic Charities seeks to break the cycle of poverty, abuse and neglect, empower people to make positive, permanent changes and support them to lead self-sufficient, dignified lives. For more information, contact 314-367-5500 or www.ccstl.org.