Water By Women, a local nonprofit that specializes in water purification, is sending water filters to communities in Tennessee devastated by Hurricane Helene flooding.
Ursuline Sister of Mount St. Joseph Larraine Lauter, co-founder and executive director, has traveled to Erwin, Tenn., where she is partnering with St. Michael the Archangel Church and the Glenmary Home Missioners who serve the mission parish.
Hurricane Helene made landfall along the Florida panhandle Sept. 27 as a category four storm with 140 miles per hour wind. Destruction from Helene stretched nearly 800 miles from south Florida into the mountains of Appalachia.
“One of their greatest needs is safe water to drink. We are providing them with filters that will provide months and even years of clean water,” said Sister Lauter. “Many of these areas where we are working, their water systems are devastated and it’ll be many months, estimated, before they have drinking water.”
Water By Women — which changed its name from Water With Blessings earlier this year — has delivered 450 filters to the parish in Erwin. Those are being distributed with the help of the Tennessee Army National Guard and Veterans Without Orders, a non-profit operated by military veterans to assist communities without clean water and other essential needs, said Sister Lauter.
Sister Lauter traveled to Erwin — which is at the edge of the Tennessee and North Carolina border — along with Ursuline Sister of Louisville Carol Curtis Oct. 1. Parts of interstate I-26 in Erwin, as well as many other roads, have collapsed under floodwaters, said Sister Lauter.
Three parishioners at St. Michael Church died as a result of the storm and the faith community is working on funerals and making grief counseling available, she said.
The parish has received various donations that meet immediate needs, such as diapers and baby wipes sent by the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville and parishioners of Epiphany Church. The parish has also received food and bottled water.
“Immediate need supplies are flowing in,” said Sister Lauter, noting the community is turning its attention to rebuilding.
“We’re going to try to help them think about long-term,” she said. “As they clean out they’ll need linens, blankets and household items.”
There’s a need now for two to three-gallon buckets. The Sawyer PointOne water filtration systems distributed by Water By Women are attached to these buckets. The buckets can be sometimes be found at bakeries for free or for a nominal fee, said Sister Lauter.
Buckets may be dropped off at Water By Women’s office at 1902 Campus Place, Suite 11, or left outside the office door if no one is there, she said.
The non-profit is also accepting donations to purchase additional filters, which cost $45. Individuals may donate to that cost by visiting waterbywomen.org.
