North Carolina Baptists on Mission has deployed disaster relief volunteers to respond to damages after Tropical Storm Idalia made its way through several southeastern states on Wednesday and Thursday. 

After sending an initial Swift Water Rescue Team to Florida on Wednesday morning, Baptists on Mission sent a disaster recovery team and a logistics volunteer to Perry, Fla., to partner with Florida Baptists’ Disaster Relief and Recovery Ministries. In addition, Baptists on Mission opened a recovery site Thursday evening in Live Oak, Fla., to aid residents as they clean up the surrounding community.

In total, approximately 30 disaster relief volunteers from Baptists on Mission are planning to travel to Live Oak on Friday and Saturday to assist in recovery efforts, with the possibility of more arriving next week.

“Disaster relief volunteers will be involved in helping homeowners clean up debris, chainsaw work and temporary roof repair,” said Tom Beam, disaster relief coordinator for Baptists on Mission. “We are thankful for North Carolina Baptists and our wonderful workers.” 

The storm was initially classified as a Category 3 hurricane by the National Hurricane Center when it made landfall along Florida’s Gulf Coast at approximately 7:45 a.m. Wednesday. With maximum winds reaching 125 mph, Idalia was the strongest hurricane Florida’s rural Big Bend region had seen in over 125 years. 

By late Wednesday afternoon, Idalia had weakened to a tropical storm, but still damaged roadways, trees and buildings as it traveled through Georgia and the Carolinas. By Thursday afternoon, the storm had traveled off the North Carolina coast and into the Atlantic Ocean.

Damages from the storm were primarily concentrated in Florida’s Big Bend region, a rural area between Florida’s panhandle and the peninsula. In response, Baptists on Mission volunteers will be operating out of nearby city Live Oak until projects are completed. 

“God has blessed us with amazing volunteers, who are ready to go on short notice to be Jesus’ hands and feet to those affected by disasters,” said Richard Brunson, executive director-treasurer of Baptists on Mission. “God has also blessed us with the equipment we need to help others. We’re so thankful for opportunities to glorify God by involving Churches and Christians in meeting human needs in Jesus’s name.”

Disaster relief is one of 19 different ministries of N.C. Baptists on Mission, which is supported by gifts to the North Carolina Missions Offering. In September 2022, Baptists on Mission disaster relief volunteers were deployed in the wake of Hurricane Ian, which battered Florida and surrounding states.