Austell, Ga. — Church pews stood empty throughout North Georgia Sunday as scores of Mormons canvassed neighborhoods hit hard by recent severe flooding.It took only about seven hours to find nearly 1,000 volunteers from more than 40 LDS congregations between Sugar Hill and Cartersville. Cleanup efforts were focused on several neighborhoods in a three-mile zone surrounding Sweet Water Creek, one of the areas most affected by last week's torrential rains.__IMAGE1__\"I live close by in Kennesaw and was upset when I got a few inches of water in my basement. Coming here, seeing the devastation and talking to people who have lost everything is pretty humbling,\" said one of the volunteers who helped organize the event.Hundreds of area residents, many without insurance, still face the daunting task of removing destroyed possessions and sanitizing their homes to remove mold damage. With county resources already over-extended, shocked residents are doing what they can with few resources.\"Many of us feel abandoned,\" said Donald Edwards, a resident of the Sweetwater Plantation neighborhood. \"Aside from companies wanting to help us for money, we've seen some churches come through and help were they can. West Ridge has been wonderful, they are trying to get us a few Dumpsters but those will all be filled within an hour. What we really need is significant manpower and hundreds of Dumpsters.\"Sunday's efforts helped restore hope for more than 150 homeowners. LDS volunteers carried out destroyed belongings, ripped out waterlogged wall board and insulation, removed heavy, wet carpet. Many houses had to be stripped down to the studs. Jennifer and Mark Bull were grateful for the help. \"The church came out and started helping us, no questions asked,\" Jennifer said. Mark added, \"It was a great help. People came out and helped everybody in a time of need — people you don't even know. We hope the world will stay like this.\"Kathryn Faison, a single parent with no family in Georgia, was in tears as she thought about having to gut her first home of only three months. \"Then came a sea of bright yellow shirts with huge smiles saying they were from the Mormon Church and wanted to help me at no cost,\" Faison said. As Faison stopped by the command center at the Goodwill store in Austell to thank the organizers of the event by donating some water for the workers, she said, \"I am at loss for words other than 'Thank God for the Mormons!' \"__IMAGE2__Rod Bennett said, \"It's amazing. You guys are terrific. We've still got anti-Mormon prejudice in this country and I think you've gone a long way today in changing some people's minds,\" said Rod Bennett. \"I know a little about Mormonism myself and admire many Mormon people. My estimation of Mormons has already gone up today. I am a writer and I had 4,000 books in my library and they are all gone, but I do know a little something about American history and I know that ever since the days when the Mormons were run out of Nauvoo, Illinois, you guys have gotten a bad rap in this country and you've gone a long way today in changing minds.\"When Kristie Crump finally walked out of her front door and ran up the cul-de-sac to safety, water was chest high. She and her son borrowed a boat and paddled back to find the water up to the light switches on the second level. They were able to retrieve only limited papers and clothes. \"As difficult as this is to deal with,\" Crump said, \"this makes it easier. You made an enormous input on my house being saved. I can't adequately tell you how I appreciated it. It was phenomenal.\" Workers removed water soaked carpet and dry wall that had already started to mold from Kristie Crump's home as well as from the home of Reniece Hogan. \"Oh, my gosh, words can't even begin to explain,\" Hogan said. \"It was phenomenal. They were in. They were out — way more than I could ever expected or asked for.\"Jackie Barnes, who lived in the subdivision behind Hogan and who came to lend a hand, said, \"It was a sea of yellow. They were everywhere. They were helpful and cheerful.\"The families and individuals helped Sunday had no flood insurance. One homeowner was told that he couldn't buy flood insurance because his home was above the flood plain. He and the others in the subdivisions helped are waiting for FEMA assessments to apply for low-cost loans to rebuild, if they decide to rebuild.Phuong Le and her family only had damage on the first floor of their home. \"The Mormons did wonderful works,\" Le said. \"Without them we couldn't have done it ourselves. They are like a messenger sent from God.\"LDS volunteers worked alongside The Jehovah's Witnesses, The West Ridge Church and a handful of other Christian organizations. The Salvation Army and Red Cross donated more than 1,000 meals for volunteers. Several motorists in the area saw seas of yellow Mormon Helping Hands shirts and decided to stop and pitch in. One volunteer said, \"Although the work was hard and not much fun, it was incredibly rewarding to come into a neighborhood and see residents' blank, shocked looks replaced by a little glimmer of hope.\" President Thomas E. Owen, president of the Powder Springs Georgia Stake, who spearheaded the event, was moved by the magnitude of the residents' loss in Austell. \"It is heart-wrenching to go into neighborhoods and see the level of devastation. Although it brought us great joy to serve, we feel as if we barely made a dent.\"Mormon volunteers plan to return Saturday, Oct. 3, to provide residents with more heavy-labor assistance.And Karla Brandau, director of North America Southeast Public Affairs, contributed to this article.
Mindy Terry is the public affairs director for the Powder Springs, Georgia stake; Karla Brandau is the director of the church's North America Southeast Public Affairs.