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Irene relief work faces logistical challenges
Baptist Press
August 30, 2011
5 MIN READ TIME

Irene relief work faces logistical challenges

Irene relief work faces logistical challenges
Baptist Press
August 30, 2011

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Ironically,

on Aug. 29 — the sixth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina — Hurricane Irene has

almost ended her 1,500-mile path of destruction from North Carolina to eastern

Canada.

By all accounts, Irene could have been much worse. But that’s little

consolation for the estimated 65 million people impacted on the East Coast –

some of whom lost loved ones while many others are facing flood damage from the

Category 1 hurricane that reached 600 miles in width.

According to news accounts, Hurricane Irene resulted in 25 deaths, some 2.4

million Americans being evacuated from their homes and 4.5 million without

electricity. Irene’s damage estimates range from a low of $7 billion to $20

billion. Katrina, by comparison, inflicted damages of $105.8 billion in

Mississippi and Louisiana alone, according to the National Hurricane Center.

“While Irene was not a wind event, it was still a rain event which is producing

extreme flooding,” said Mickey Caison, national coordinator for Southern

Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) with the North American Mission Board in

Alpharetta, Ga.

“The flooding continues to develop,” Caison said, adding, “We’re seeing where

trees are down due to wind and tornadoes. A lot of roads and bridges are out,

so getting into some of these areas is going to take a while. There are some

great needs out there.”

It will take a couple more days to get full deployment, Caison said.

“Assessment has to be done. We have to determine where we can house volunteers.

Because so much of the damage is in the New England/New York area, we don’t

have a lot of churches there, so we have to build the infrastructure to

logistically support our teams.”

North Carolina and its Outer Banks caught much of Irene’s fury as a Category 3

hurricane. In the Tar Heel State alone, 1.3 million people were affected and

300,000 people remain without power. Officials estimated that North Carolina

suffered $600 million in damages in 14 counties, including 137 washed-out roads

and 19 destroyed or damaged bridges. Bunyan, N.C., recorded 14 inches of rain,

while Cedar Island, N.C., endured 115 mph winds.

Photo by Pamlico County Relief.

The deluge of rain and gusts of wind from Hurricane Irene, shown here in New Bern, was replicated up and down the East Coast. Baptist disaster relief crews, in Irene’s aftermath, are deploying to help feed storm victims and relief workers, while chainsaw teams are busy removing fallen trees and limbs.

Three SBDR feeding and mud-out units from Mississippi already are en route to

North Carolina, said Gaylon Moss, a DR coordinator for the Baptist State

Convention of North Carolina.

The state DR team in New York already has activated one feeding unit, reported

Mike

Flannery, state DR director for the New York Baptist Convention.

Flannery said due to serious flooding west of the Hudson River, feeding will be

vital for at least two weeks. He said the feeding unit hopes to be cooking

several thousand meals a day by Tuesday evening. The New York feeding unit can

prepare up to 15,000 meals a day, but Flannery said he needs more feeding

volunteer workers to reach that number. A Mississippi Baptist feeding team also

is headed to New York.

Flooding is particularly bad in Vermont, where so many cities and towns are

built along rivers, said Bruce James, state DR director for the Baptist

Convention of New England. Flooding caused by Hurricane Irene in Vermont – also

hit by heavy flooding earlier this year – is the worst since 1923, James said.

Thousands of citizens are inaccessible because of washed-out roads and bridges,

including century-old, irreplaceable covered bridges.

How does Hurricane Irene stack up with Hurricanes Ike and Gustav, which ravaged

Louisiana, Texas and the Gulf Coast back in September 2008? In response to

those two hurricanes, SBDR feeding units prepared more than 5 million meals for

victims, responders and volunteers.

“The reality is that we could end up with same amount of damage spread from

North Carolina to Canada,” Caison said. “There’s significant damage in North

Carolina, Virginia, New England and New York. But where Ike and Gustav were

very concentrated along the Gulf Coast, this is spread out over 1,500-1,800

miles.”

Eastern Canada wound up as Irene’s final stop of destruction, with wind gusts

peaking at 30-50 mph in eastern Quebec, the St. Lawrence Valley, New Brunswick,

Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Irene’s wind and rain were slated to end

across Labrador on Tuesday.

“Canada also has disaster relief but their deployment is different from ours,

in that Canada’s military is more heavily involved,” Caison said. “There will

be a limited amount of work available for our volunteers in Canada.”

Endel Lee, NAMB’s national coordinator for disaster relief chaplaincy, said

Southern Baptist chaplains will be concentrated in the higher population areas

with the most hurricane damage, although every mud-out, chainsaw and feeding

team will include an embedded chaplain. Lee said SBDR chaplains also will

partner with chaplains representing the Red Cross and Salvation Army.

Related stories

NCBM serves meals to Williamston area victims

N.C. Baptists respond to wind, floods from Irene

11 Irene-affected states to see relief units

Feeding/recovery underway in New Bern