Southern Baptist Disaster Relief teams remain on alert as Hurricane Ian is expected to hit the west coast of Florida on Wednesday (Sept. 28) as a Category 4 storm. The storm has slammed Cuba, leaving 11 million without power, according to media reports.
Florida Baptist Disaster Relief leaders continue to monitor the storm and the impact it could have on the state, according to a report by the Florida Baptist Convention. David Coggins, Florida Baptist DR coordinator, said he expects volunteer teams to move into “active status” and begin serving some of the hardest hit communities by the end of the week.
“We have eight feeding kitchens ready to set up along the coast if they are needed,” Coggins reported. “We are staging our equipment in the Leesburg area and many of our drivers will wait the storm out here as well.”
DR volunteers in neighboring states of Florida are also ready to respond to the storm’s aftermath when needed.
“I’ve put all of our Georgia volunteers on alert status,” Dwain Carter, director of Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief, told the Christian Index.
Power outages, flooding, ‘life-threatening storm surge’
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told the media that some areas of the state should prepare for “catastrophic flooding and life-threatening storm surge” and “extended power outages.”
The National Hurricane Center said Floridians should expect “in West Central Florida to see near 20 inches of rain and there is going to be a widespread region of around 10 inches,” reported The World and Everything in It podcast.
Tommy Green, Florida Baptists’ executive director-treasurer, told DR leaders and volunteers on a Zoom call on Tuesday, “What you are doing is making a huge difference as you show the love of Christ.”
He added, “Southern Baptists throughout the nation have been praying for DR teams that will be responding in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.”
