Catholics respond to California floods, contaminated resources

Your weekly newsletter about faith and climate change

February 9, 2024

The Los Angeles River in Studio City, Calif., Feb. 5, 2024, is pictured during heavy rains. One of the wettest storms in Southern California history unleashed at least 475 mudslides in the Los Angeles area after dumping more than half the amount of rainfall the city typically gets in a season in just two days, and officials warned Feb. 6 that the threat was not over yet. (OSV News/Reuters/Aude Guerrucci)

When disaster strikes, it is often church communities and faith organizations that are some of the first to respond with immediate aid for those affected, as well as longer term support for those who experience lasting impacts. With increasing occurrences of extreme weather events and other environmental hazards in recent years, there's been no shortage of opportunities to see such service in action.

When record-breaking rainfall hit Southern California earlier this week, Catholic Charities of Los Angeles created a disaster relief fund "that will be used to help families and individuals who are suffering from the effects of the storm," Alexandria Arnold, the agency's chief development and communications officer, told Gina Christian for OSV News, adding that "Catholic Charities USA is sending additional funding for disaster relief."

Greg Krumm, principal of St. John of the Cross School in Lemon Grove, California, which was forced to temporarily relocate, said the Catholic community's support following flooding "just shows how close-knit we are and how willing we are to help each other out."

Across the country, another Catholic community has been providing support for the past year to those affected by the Feb. 3, 2023 train derailment, fire and resulting toxic contamination of air, soil and water in East Palestine, Ohio.

Our Lady of Lourdes Church in East Palestine has served as a distribution center for supplies, and a gathering place for community meals.

"We just financed a blanket gift card that goes to every home in the area code … a $10 gift card that's accepted at about 50 different businesses in East Palestine," Fr. Chad Johnson, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes, told Christian for OSV News. "We were fortunate enough … that we could finance that and provide for the entire community."

"We're stronger. We are more socially conscious and aware of what's going on around us, and we're here to minister to the community as best we can," Johnson said.

What else is new on EarthBeat:

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What's happening in other climate news:

Dial it up to Category 6? As warming stokes storms, some want a bigger hurricane category —Seth Borenstein for The Associated Press

'Reversed and scrubbed.' How a second Trump term could gut climate research. —Scott Waldman for E&E News

Green Amendments Gain Traction in More States Ahead of Elections —Drew Hutchinson for Bloomberg Law

EU lays out plan to cut greenhouse emissions by 90% by 2040 —Ajit Niranjan for The Guardian

These are the climate grannies. They'll do whatever it takes to protect their grandchildren. —Jessica Kutz for The 19th*

Religious Leaders Urge Faith in Electric Cars —Susan Hendershot for Newsweek

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Stephanie Clary
Environment Editor
National Catholic Reporter
sclary@ncronline.org
Instagram: @stephanieclaryncr