By Lisa Cornwell
The Associated Press

Trying to bring aid to disaster victims in a more timely manner, Ohio churches are organizing a statewide recovery network that would respond to floods, tornadoes and even terrorist attacks.

The Ohio Council of Churches, which represents 17 religious denominations encompassing more than 6,000 congregations, would be divided into nine geographical regions coinciding with the Ohio Emergency Management Agency's regions.

"We want to improve communication within the faith community and with emergency agencies so that we can get long-term recovery help out to people more efficiently, without duplicating services," said the Rev. Rebecca Tollefson, executive director of the Council of Churches.

Each region would have a volunteer coordinator who would contact emergency officials and church leaders during a disaster. More than 20 representatives of churches in southwest Ohio met this month to form the first of the nine regions. The region includes Hamilton, Warren, Clermont, Clinton, Fayette, Highland, Brown and Adams counties.