THOMASVILLE, N.C. — All children, residents and staff members of the Baptist Children’s Homes (BCH) of North Carolina are safe following Hurricane Helene, even though some residents and staff in western North Carolina were relocated to other facilities.
Several of BCH’s 31 ministry locations are in western North Carolina, and residents and staff in two locations were relocated to other facilities due to power outages, according to a statement posted on social media.
The statement said that residents and staff at BCH’s homes for intellectually and developmentally disabled adults in Asheville and Zionville (outside Boone) were relocated after the storm. One group was relocated to the Broyhill Home in Clyde, and the other was relocated to the Mills Home in Thomasville.
The statement also said that some BCH staff members have not been able to leave their homes, and many are without power, phone service or water.
BCH officials said they hope to make damage assessments to its facilities in the coming days.
Meanwhile, officials at Fruitland Baptist Bible College in Hendersonville said in a social media post that the school’s offices remain closed and administrators delayed the start of classes for two weeks until Oct. 14 due to ongoing power, phone, water and internet issues.
A spokesperson for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina said Fruitland sustained damage to one of its staff houses and downed trees across campus. No injuries were reported.
Hurricane Helene made landfall along the Florida Gulf Coast on Thursday (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 Friday (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. N.C. 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.
Hundreds of disaster response volunteers with N.C. Baptists on Mission have deployed to the region to serve, and many more are expected in the coming days.
