Mormon Helping Hands volunteers have for the past three weeks been part of a ‘mud army’ helping people across Adelaide clean up their flood affected properties. Requests for volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came via the State Recovery Office (SRO) immediately following the 14 September flash flooding which caused considerable damage to properties at Old Noarlunga and the Waterfall Gully Road area of Burnside.
Armed with gumboots, gloves, shovels and power hoses the helpers removed debris and layers of mud from floors, fencing and gardens. One yard was so deep in silt left behind as floodwaters receded that it yielded 70 wheelbarrow-loads of mud. This was hard going as the barrow tyres kept deflating and the surface became more slippery as the day’s endeavour progressed.
But, whether the service was shifting furniture and lifting waterlogged carpet, or shovelling mud for hours, the volunteers said it was important – and rewarding – to lend a hand.
“It felt great to serve in this way,” said Alicia Buring, who was an LDS missionary in Fiji at the time of Cyclone Winston. “When I left Fiji the recovery was still ongoing and it was hard to leave a people and place I loved. I’m really glad that I was able to help people here in Adelaide who have been affected by another disaster emergency.”
Story and photo courtesy of Caroline Mcilwaine of LDS Adelaide News.