PERRY, Fla. (BP) — Send Relief is supporting multiple state Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) teams after Hurricane Helene marched through the Southeast, impacting Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas and leaving more than 4 million without power.

Hurricane Helene made landfall after 11 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 26, near Perry in the Big Bend area of Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 4 storm and was not downgraded from hurricane strength until it reached central Georgia. As of early Friday afternoon, the death toll had risen to at least 22.

“The state SBDR directors are working with their assessors and state emergency management leaders to determine the best locations to stage the SBDR response,” said Coy Webb, Send Relief’s crisis response director.

“With these widespread outages, SBDR’s priority will first be setting up mobile kitchens to provide meals until power is restored,” Webb added. “Flood recovery and debris removal efforts will begin simultaneously but will ramp up into full force as the weekend unfolds.”

First responders throughout the Southeast have been rescuing survivors in the aftermath of the storm, and SBDR’s volunteers are moving in as authorities give the “all clear” for each community.

“I am so thankful for Florida Baptist Disaster Relief, our wonderful volunteers and Florida Baptist churches,” said Florida Baptist Convention Executive Director-Treasurer Stephen Rummage on X. “In the wake of Hurricane Helene, we are already working to minister to the needs of affected communities, showing Jesus’ love to hurting people in this time of crisis.”

Storm surge reached 20 feet along the Florida coast in a region known informally as the “Nature Coast” that is sparsely populated. The storm shifted east and mostly avoided the state’s capital of Tallahassee but wrought havoc near Perry, where Florida SBDR will establish a feeding and recovery site at First Baptist Church. A second site will be set up at First Baptist Church in Live Oak, about 60 miles to the northeast.

The SBDR response will have a pair of feeding sites in Florida and two in Georgia partnering with the Salvation Army to provide meals to survivors in impacted communities.

As assessors continue determining the needs, Send Relief is quickly releasing funds for SBDR teams to equip their response and is preparing to send resources — flood recovery supplies, rolled roofing and other materials — that will be distributed throughout the Southeast.

In Georgia, Helene has produced one of the most widespread disasters the state has ever experienced, said Dwain Carter, Georgia’s SBDR director. The center of the storm shifted east, away from its originally projected path and delivered high winds and severe flooding throughout the state.

“The whole southeast third of the state, from just west of Valdosta, up to Dublin and all the way over to Augusta and to the coast has had storm damage,” Carter said. “We have shifted our plan for where we are going to set up kitchens. We will have two feeding sites and several recovery sites set up in the next day or so.”

SBDR will set up a feeding kitchen at Northside Baptist Church in Valdosta, and Send Relief’s ministry center in Valdosta will also be supporting the recovery.

North and South Carolina also witnessed historic flooding and damage in the western parts of their states from Helene. SBDR leadership in the Carolinas began assessments and will establish response sites as well.

For more information and the latest updates, visit SendRelief.org/hurricane.

Following are updates from North Carolina, Florida and Georgia.

Fruitland Baptist Bible College sustains damage

HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (BP) — Fruitland Baptist Bible College closed its campus Friday (Sept. 27) and announced a one-week delay in the start of its fall quarter.

An announcement on social media said the campus sustained “considerable damage” from Hurricane Helene, which came ashore in Florida’s Big Bend late Thursday night and tore its way through Georgia and into western North Carolina overnight.

The state has seen widespread flash flooding, and North Carolina Swift Water Teams have made more than 100 rescues so far, according to an announcement from Gov. Roy Cooper’s office.

“For western North Carolina, do not travel unless there is an emergency,” Cooper said. “Because conditions are worsening, people in western North Carolina should consider all roads closed unless you are seeking higher ground. I urge people to stay informed and listen to local emergency response officials.”

An N.C. Baptists on Mission update on Friday said volunteers are setting up feeding and recovery efforts at multiple sites around the region, including an emergency shelter at Biltmore Baptist in Arden, N.C.

Leaders are anticipating a “very large response” to the storm, the update said.

For updates on N.C. Baptists on Mission’s response, visit baptistsonmission.org/Hurricane-Helene.

‘Active status’ for Florida Baptist Disaster Relief in Hurricane Helene response

PERRY, Fla. — As Hurricane Helene, a Category 4 storm, made landfall just after 11 p.m., Thursday (Sept. 26) in Taylor County, Florida Baptist Disaster Relief (FBDR) volunteers are now on “active status,” preparing to respond quickly to deliver help, hope and healing to those impacted by the storm.

Less than 12 hours after Hurricane Helene’s landfall, David Coggins, FBDR director, said that volunteers are in the process of transporting and setting up equipment and resources at First Baptist Church in Perry, which will serve as the disaster relief command center. As soon as the command center is operational, Coggins said that volunteers can begin providing meals, damage assessment, clean-up and recovery, and spiritual care and witness as they help communities address immediate needs.

“I am so thankful for Florida Baptist Disaster Relief, our wonderful volunteers and Florida Baptist churches. In the wake of Hurricane Helene, we are already working to minister to the needs of affected communities, showing Jesus’ love to hurting people in this time of crisis,” said Stephen Rummage, Florida Baptists’ executive director-treasurer, in a social media post.

Hurricane Helene’s landfall marks the third time in just over a year for the Big Bend region to be hit with a hurricane. Category 1 Hurricane Debby made landfall there on Aug. 5 of this year. Category 3 Hurricane Idalia struck the area on Aug. 30, 2023, as the strongest hurricane at the time ever to hit the region. Hurricane Helene’s wind and storm surge have exceeded Hurricane Idalia, thus giving Hurricane Helene the distinction of being the strongest hurricane ever to strike Florida’s Big Bend.

Hurricane Helene has left havoc in its path, with structural damage and destruction, record-setting storm surges in several areas, fierce winds, soaking rainfall and as many as 1 million Floridians without power. The storm’s path of destruction in Florida extends from the Big Bend southward all the way down the coastline to Tampa Bay and Clearwater Beach and possibly beyond. Tallahassee, just north of the Big Bend, may have been spared the brunt of the storm’s fury.

The hurricane pushed through Florida quickly as it moved northward into Georgia, South Carolina and other states with pummeling rain and wind.

With each of the three hurricane strikes in the Big Bend over the past 13 months, First Baptist Church in Perry has stepped up as the disaster relief command center.

Although Coggins admitted he was unsure of asking Steven Ruff, pastor of First Baptist Church in Perry, if FBDR could set up its command center at his church once again, the pastor told Coggins that the disaster relief volunteers, along with all their equipment and resources, were “welcome back.”

Such a cooperative spirit “speaks to that church’s commitment to reach its community, even if it takes going through a third hurricane,” Coggins said.

Just as First Baptist Church in Perry is willing to do its part in relief efforts, FBDR volunteers, also just a month from their latest deployment in the Big Bend, are stepping up to serve, Coggins said.

“We stand ready to share the hope of Christ,” he said.

FBDR is working to coordinate its response with partners from The Salvation Army, the Florida Department of Emergency Management, Southern Baptists’ Send Relief, the American Red Cross and first responders.

During the Hurricane Debby response in August of this year, FBDR and The Salvation Army launched a joint service initiative to ensure that every Salvation Army mobile feeding unit would be accompanied by trained chaplains to offer the hope of the gospel to those impacted by disaster.

When the initiative was launched, Coggins said, “Jesus gave us a mandate to meet the physical needs of people, but more so He gave us a mandate to meet the spiritual needs.”

That partnership approach from the two faith-based relief organizations to meet both physical and spiritual needs will be a focus of Hurricane Helene response.

For updates on FBDR response, go to facebook.com/FLBaptistDR and flbaptist.org/dr-current-response.

Hurricane Helene tears deadly and destructive path through Georgia

VALDOSTA, Ga. — The damage caused by Hurricane Helene when it tore through southern Georgia early Friday morning was widespread and indiscriminate. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said that the death toll in the state stands at 11, with one of those being a first responder. Dozens more are still trapped, he said, and millions are without power.

Initial reports show that Georgia Baptist churches did not escape the fury of Helene’s high winds and heavy rain.

Pastor Brad Waters reported that First Baptist Church Hazlehurst, built in 2017, lost its steeple. He explained that when the church was built, members wrote Bible verses in the steeple in permanent marker, and that those verses are visible in the fallen structure. “It’s going to be tough,” he said, “but we’ll pick up and go forward.”

In Valdosta, Greenwood Baptist Church was damaged by falling trees, and Pastor Mike Nelligan says several branches penetrated the sanctuary roof. “All of our people seem to be fine,” he said, “but there was a lot of damage to property.” Nelligan says they are waiting to remove the trees and tarp the roof to be able to begin repairs.

At a prayer service Wednesday evening, Nelligan recalled telling the congregation, “Now don’t pray that God sends the storm to go beat up someone else. Pray that we represent Him well if it hits us.”

In the northern half of the state, Helene’s rains caused more damage than its winds. New Canaan Baptist Church in Rome, Ga., reported flooding in its sanctuary.

Pinnacle Retreat Center in Clayton, Ga., reported several trees down across the property, including one that fell on one of the homes there. The center also lost power and had some minor flooding in the gym.

As the widespread impact of the storm becomes more clear, Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief will coordinate its response with other states as well as government, national and regional entities to serve communities across the state.

Waters, who had traveled to Athens for the birth of his grandchild, is making plans to return to Hazlehurst as soon as possible. “We have a great church, with great people and a great mission for the gospel,” he said. “That mission will continue.”

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Brandon Elrod writes for the North American Mission Board. Baptist Press, Margaret Colson with the Florida Baptist Convention and Henry Durand with The Christian Index contributed to this report.)