It was shaping up to be a bad one. The National Weather Service tracked a developing storm that eventually became Hurricane Helene. It marched across the Caribbean, gaining momentum, and crashed into Florida as a Category 4 with 140 mph winds.
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Earlier that day, Sept. 26, 2024, Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, put Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief teams on alert. Jones anticipated heavy rains from the Cumberland Plateau through East Tennessee. He never anticipated how quickly the situation would escalate or how dangerous it would become. No one did. But why would they? Hurricanes don’t normally hit Appalachia.
But this one did, and it hit hard on Sept. 27, dumping 25 to 30 inches of rain over a 48-hour period, resulting in more than 250 dead, many missing, and thousands displaced because of damaged or destroyed homes. Churches, schools, businesses, and at least 100 bridges – gone. The landscape forever altered, and the trauma forever seared into the minds of those who experienced it.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Chris Turner and originally published by the Baptist and Reflector.
