North Carolina Baptist disaster response volunteers are partnering with churches to assist local residents with the long journey of recovery as counties in western part of the state and surrounding areas grapple with unprecedented devastation caused by Hurricane Helene.
As of Monday (Sept. 30), North Carolina Baptists on Mission had deployed hundreds of volunteers to assist with response efforts, with hundreds more expected to arrive in the coming days.
RELATED: For more stories on Hurricane Helene, click here.
Tom Beam, disaster response coordinator with Baptists on Mission, noted the needs are “overwhelming” and will require a coordinated, widespread response from churches.
Hurricane Helene made landfall along the Florida Gulf Coast on Sept. 26 as a Category 4 storm, with sustained winds of 140 mph and wind gusts even higher. As the storm moved quickly northward, Helene brought damaging winds across Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee along with unprecedented rainfall and flooding on Sept. 27, even while weakening to a tropical storm.
The storm washed out roads, knocked out power and crippled phone service throughout the western North Carolina, limiting access to those in need. North Carolina Department of Transportation officials said hundreds of road issues remain and travel in western North Carolina should be limited to emergencies only. As of Sunday (Sept. 29), more than 500,000 customers across the region remained without power, down from a peak of about 1 million.
‘Begging for help’
“Water, electricity, cell phone, internet, road closures, bridges out — the amount of need is a huge roadblock,” Beam said. “Every county is begging for help.”
North Carolina Baptists on Mission is one of several organizations assisting the state and local government officials in the response to the storm.
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Ways to help
For more information on how you can help, check with your church, association or state Baptist convention to find out how they are contributing to this and other ongoing relief efforts in neighboring states, your state and beyond.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Samuel Heard and Chad Austin and originally published by the Biblical Recorder.
