In the more than three weeks since Hurricane Helene tore through Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers have been working hard to help those affected by the storm. See a few of the latest reports below.
Georgia DR to double number of sites
“It has been a very fast-paced situation since Hurricane Helene came through our state,” said Dwain Carter, director of Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief. “This is the largest storm that Georgia has ever experienced and the largest response GBDR has ever been involved with inside of Georgia.”
RELATED: For more disaster relief reports across the southeast and beyond, click here.
An average of nearly 300 volunteers a day over the first 20 days of the response have assisted with feeding, storm cleanup, and more in Georgia, Carter noted. They include volunteers from Disaster Relief organizations from 18 other states that have sent teams to work in the state.
Close to 400,000 meals have been prepared thus far, and GBDR has received more than 3,700 requests for chainsaw help. Those numbers are sure to rise greatly as GBDR will double the number of response sites in the coming days.
Currently, disaster relief response sites are operating in Augusta, Alma/Douglas, Vidalia, Statesboro, and Valdosta. The additional sites will be located in Sandersville, Swainsboro, McRae, Louisville, and Wrens.
To read full story from Georgia’s Christian Index, click here.
MD/DE volunteers deployed to South Carolina
In response to Hurricane Helene, Maryland/Delaware Disaster Relief volunteers have been on the ground, serving victims in South Carolina. Ellen Udovich, BCM/D Ready/ Disaster Relief missionary, said that at the request of the Baptist Convention of South Carolina, volunteers are serving in incident management, community feeding support, and chainsaw/emergency repair teams. They’re also listening and caring for victims and other DR workers and sharing the love of Jesus.
Bruce Glisson, executive pastor of Allen Memorial Church, Salisbury, Maryland, was trained years ago as a DR volunteer but said his certification lapsed, so he recently retrained and, following the hurricane, deployed to Spartanburg. Glisson oversaw a team providing about 400 meals each day.
Glisson said, “We took some supplies the first day and dropped them off at the distribution center in Bear Creek, just outside Asheville. It was an HVAC business, and the owner turned it into a distribution center. He said a lot of the community hasn’t returned to the area, but some are not going anywhere and are staying in tents on their property.”
Glisson said residents said water rose 20-25 feet, and unfortunately, buildings may have to be gutted. “We were definitely seeing some fatigue — people are starting to think, ‘how long are we going to have to deal with this?’ One of the things that really hit me was on two different buildings, written on plywood, was Romans 12:12, ‘Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.’ In some of their worse moments, these people are finding hope.”
To read full story from the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware, click here.
Illinois Disaster Relief serving in North Carolina, continuing in Augusta
Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief teams have been deployed to hard hit North Carolina to serve victims of Hurricane Helene over the next few weeks. Teams from Kaskaskia and Williamson Baptist Associations arrived on Oct. 20 and 21 and will serve as incident command, assessors, and chaplains. Additional teams from Kaskaskia and Macoupin Baptist Associations will relieve them next week.
IBDR State Coordinator Arnold Ramage, who is serving as incident command this week, shared, “We will be working in Madison County for the next two weeks. North Carolina [disaster relief known as Baptists on Mission] will be supplying the recovery teams.” Madison Country is located northwest of Asheville on the Tennessee state line.
“Since arrival [we’ve been] organizing and entering jobs into our system,” said Arnold. “The job count is currently 120 with 50 jobs chainsaw and flood recovery completed.”
The teams are based out of Locust Grove Baptist Church in Weaverville, just 10 miles from Asheville, in Buncombe County. Electricity has been restored to the church and Baptists on Mission are providing their meals plus a shower/laundry trailer.
In an email, Ramage reported what the team saw on their drive into the area. “We just made a trip through some of devastation,” he wrote. “A stream had become a mile wide. Total destruction roads, bridges all gone.”
While much of the work IBDR has been doing to serve Hurricane Helene survivors in Augusta, Georgia, has involved chainsaw recovery, much of work where they are serving in North Carolina involves flood recovery efforts. Ramage’s responsibilities will include accepting job requests along with scheduling and assigning jobs. The IBDR assessors will conduct damage assessments to help with coordinating teams, while the chaplains will minister to both survivors and disaster volunteers.
To read full story from the Illinois Baptist, click here.
EDITOR’S NOTE — These reports have been compiled by The Baptist Paper, with reporting from Georgia’s Christian Index, the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware and the Illinois Baptist.
