Published: July 03, 2007 07:42 am      

Faces of the Flood: 'Trying to help our fellow neighbor'

Latest in a series on the 1977 Johnstown Flood



In the days and weeks after the 1977 flood, Bruce Becker saw Mount Calvary Lutheran Church transformed into what some churchgoers would call "the hands and feet of Jesus" - a hub for hard-working disaster assistance.

"When I came here, there was a lot of action," he said.

"It was constant action and moving - people, and food and clothing, all over the place.

"The church itself literally was a staging area. There were cars everywhere. There were trucks, with food and water being brought in, and home rehabilitation materials, almost a little bit of everything."

Becker had been living in Geistown and working as a community coordinator with Lutheran Social Services when the flood hit in July. He became response coordinator for the Lutheran Disaster Relief Program about three weeks after the torrent ripped through homes in and around the city.

In some cases, the church group offered financial assistance. In other situations, Becker arranged for skilled workers and volunteers to rebuild parts of families' homes. The worst damage he saw was in Tanneryville.

"There was mud all through," he said. "It had that stench. The furniture might have been completely gone or shoved into the corner. The windows were blown out."

Some homes had been torn in two.

"Some were completely gone," he said. "I saw a trailer that was completely twisted."

Churches such as Mount Calvary along Scalp Avenue played a significant role in the short-term and long-term response to hurting and needy families, Becker said.

"There was a need, in many cases, just to let people talk," he said, adding that the Lutheran group worked with organizations such as the Salvation Army and other church-affiliated institutions such as United Methodist Social Services.

"Lutheran Social Services, Flood '77 and Methodists were able to give people a sounding board at the time, and help them work through their personal situations, as well as work with their communities," he said.

For about two years, Becker worked with flood victims, helping whole neighborhoods rediscover their identities.

His post as community coordinator meant countless public meetings. Many of the neighborhoods elected officials to draft a plan for each community's rehabilitation and future.

"Almost anything you take for granted walking through a neighborhood wasn't there," he said.

Detailed plans helped those neighborhoods land state and federal funding for rebuilding efforts.

"They presented themselves in a very good way," he said.

"They knew what they were talking about."

Although he saw and felt the anger and depression in hurting faces, he also was inspired by the selfless giving - the thousands who volunteered even when they were hurting.

"There were people who had severe losses helping other people who had more-severe losses, trying to comfort them," he said. "So many people lost in so many ways."

The response also unified area Christians, he said.

"We all have our own traditions," he said. "But, when you approach faith - the Christian aspect - we all have the same goal, to be Christ-like.

"Here in Johnstown, we were all trying to help our fellow neighbor. It wasn't about religion."