Valmeyer man prepared for worst case scenarios

Pictured, Dennis Felix works outside a house that sustained flooding in San Marcos, Texas. (submitted photo)

Disaster movies like to depict everything in extremes.

They take the worst-case scenario, such as an entire city being swallowed by the earth during an earthquake. Some natural disasters are worse that others, but oftentimes, victims of such occurrences need help.

That’s where people like Dennis Felix of Valmeyer come in handy. If a disaster strikes not only Monroe County, but the United States, Felix is ready to serve.

“We got involved in disaster relief because we lost our house in the Flood of ’93 in Valmeyer,” Felix said. “So, that’s what gave me the heart to become a chaplain and help other people in disasters.”

As a chaplain, Felix has many duties in helping people get through what may be the worst days of their lives.

“As a chaplain with the North American Mission Board or Southern Baptist Convention, I have to have my training to meet FEMA qualifications — FEMA and Homeland Security,” Felix said.

“Not only do I take my training through the Southern Baptist Convention, I have to meet federal standards. So, I have what’s called a Critical Incidents Risk Management course, in case of an issue, if there’s a major school shooting, or an incident like that, I’m prepared to meet those needs.”

Felix traveled to Washington, Ill., two years ago when a tornado ravaged the town. He said debris was everywhere. Felix also went to Coal City, Ill., this past June to help after a tornado struck the town. There, he served on a “chainsaw team.”

“When a tornado comes through, the teams get together. They call the teams in the area and go to a location and clear the debris off of people’s property,” Felix said. “Trees or whatever, we get them off their house and out of the property.”

He went back near the area in July to help an RV resort clean up the debris.

“The largest RV resort in the world is just south of Rockford, Ill., and they got hit by the same tornado,” Felix said. “No one would help them because it was a resort. What people didn’t understand was that the people in that resort own their property just like a homeowner does and they’re responsible for cleaning it up. So, we made three separate trips up to Sublette, Ill., to work with the teams up there. I served as a chaplain with all of the teams there because the teams strive to work on the physical needs and I try to work on the spiritual needs of whoever’s going through the disaster.”

Most recently, Felix was in San Marcos, Texas. He and a team of 14 others properly trained in disaster response helped clean out damaged homes. They would take out the mud, cut the drywall out up past the point of moisture, pull wet installation out, pressure clean the homes and then spray a special treatment to kill the mold.

Felix said the team was in San Marcos from Nov. 15-21. For the first two-and-a-half days, the team cleaned one home. It was hit by flood water in May and recently cleaned. However, 18 more inches of rain flooded the home again.

“It was an experience,” Felix said. “A ‘mud-out’ is much more emotional. You’re going into the house and tearing it out. A lot of times, the furniture is all destroyed. So, you’ve got to take it out. Then you have to deal with the emotion of that. In a tornado, it’s just debris, and we just have to get it off. There (in San Marcos) it was a little longer lasting.”

Felix said he served primarily as a chaplain in San Marcos, but the team did a great job.

“The team was just awesome,” Felix said. “They went down underneath the house, in a two-and-a-half-foot crawl space. They crawled in the mud on their hands and knees and cut out the installation between the trusses, which was soaked with mud and debris. They pulled it all out.”

Felix has added more titles than just chaplain to his resume. Although he’s retired, he is the coordinator for the Monroe County Community Emergency Response Team and Illinois Disaster Relief Region 4 Director.

Felix encourages people to ask their own denominations how to get certified for disaster relief through their church or place of worship.

As for getting involved in community preparedness, CERT is a good way to get started.

“It’s designed to prepare the person to be ready as an individual, for their household and to be ready to help their neighbors,” Felix said. “They’ll tell you in any disaster it will take the government almost 72 hours to get on site. CERT is responsible locally to get people involved to have people prepared and ready to go. You have all aspects. There’s first-aid, search and rescue, all the basics of survival and preparing to extricate someone from a house.”

Even though disaster movies take the worst situations and make them even worse, Felix says it’s always good to be prepared.

To get involved with CERT, contact Felix at 939-0050 or email him at chaplainfelix@hotmail.com.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Republic-Times

The Republic-Times has been Monroe County's hometown newspaper since 1890. Serving Columbia, Waterloo, Valmeyer, Hecker and every town in between, we strive to provide the news that matters most to you in the timeliest manner possible. For more information on subscribing to the Republic-Times, call 939-3814 or visit the "Subscribe" page on this website.
HTC web
MonroeCountyElectric300X15012_19