ASHEVILLE, N.C. — As counties in western North Carolina and surrounding areas continue to grapple with unprecedented devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, N.C. Baptist disaster response volunteers are partnering with churches to assist local residents with the long journey of recovery.

As of Monday, Sept. 30, N.C. Baptists on Mission has deployed hundreds of volunteers to assist with response efforts, with hundreds more expected to arrive in the coming days. Tom Beam, disaster response coordinator with Baptists on Mission, said that the needs are “overwhelming” and will require a coordinated, widespread response from churches.

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 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. 

“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.”

N.C. Baptists on Mission is one of several organizations assisting the state and local government officials in the response to the storm.

“People are desperate for help — and we are pushing to get it to them,” N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper said in a statement. “Please know that we are sending resources, and coordinating closely with local governments, first responders, state and federal partners, and volunteer organizations to help those impacted by this tragic storm. This is an unprecedented tragedy that requires an unprecedented response.”

N.C. Baptists on Mission began a feeding operation at First Baptist Church of Boone on Sunday (Sept. 29) with volunteers from the local community and nearby Appalachian State University helping serve hot meals in drive-thru and walk-up lines. Additional feeding sites in Arden and Marion are providing meals to be distributed by the American Red Cross. 

“When you have devastation like this, obviously there’s a lot of opportunity to minister to the community that God put you in,” said Bruce Frank, lead pastor of Biltmore Church, a multisite congregation in western North Carolina. “Certainly that’s going to be the case as a church and a conglomeration of churches.”

Biltmore Church has been distributing water and ice to residents at its Arden campus and providing updates about the distributions on the church’s Facebook page. 

“The hard part is just getting stuff here at this point,” Frank said.

Churches and local Baptist associations from across the state spent the weekend collecting cases of water and delivering those to churches and distribution sites across the region.

Frank said he was expecting more water to be delivered to the church on Monday (Sept. 30).

News accounts, photos and videos from the weekend showed entire towns being washed away, entire chunks of roads and highways missing, and vehicles and dumpsters floating down flooded streets.

“People lost homes, cars, businesses,” Frank said. “Nobody got left unscathed. It’s a pretty widespread path of destruction that we haven’t seen before regarding the rain and the wind and the flooding and the trees down…. I don’t think anybody in these parts has seen this kind of weather element in our lifetime.”

Frank said he learned on Sunday that an entire family in his congregation all perished in a flood.

In Buncombe County alone, where Biltmore’s Arden campus is located, there have been more than 30 confirmed deaths, according to local news reports. Local and state officials say they expect the death toll to rise as search and rescue operations continue.

Justin Alexander, pastor of First Baptist Church of Hendersonville, said some members of his church were still trapped in their homes as of Sunday (Sept. 29).

“We’ve got church members that are trapped (and) cannot get out of their houses right now,” Alexander said in a video posted to social media. “We’ve got full communities that are underwater, that their homes are completely destroyed, and so we’re trying to figure out how we here at First Baptist can serve our entire community.”

First Baptist Hendersonville was also collecting water, hygiene products, non-perishable food items and baby supplies over the weekend to serve as a distribution center in the community.

N.C. Baptists on Mission has also set up multiple recovery sites throughout the region to assess damage and begin the long process of assisting area residents.

According to Beam, recovery efforts in western North Carolina will have an “indefinite” timeline. 

“It’s going to be a long time — months to years,” Beam said. “I don’t anticipate it going away anytime soon.”

In coordination with N.C. Baptists on Mission, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina has created a special webpage to assist churches to “pray, give and go” in response to Helene. Those affected by the storm have been encouraged to submit prayer requests using this form. Individuals interested in volunteering to support recovery efforts can sign up online to be added to a volunteer list with Baptists on Mission.

Those interested in giving directly to the Hurricane Helene relief efforts through N.C. Baptists on Mission may do so online. All funds given through Baptists on Mission go directly to support the Hurricane Helene relief efforts. Disaster response is one of 19 different ministries of N.C. Baptists on Mission, which is supported by the North Carolina Missions Offering.

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Samuel Heard serves as editor/content coordinator with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. Chad Austin serves as the managing editor of the Biblical Recorder. Brandon Porter with Baptist Press also contributed to this report.)

Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief coordinating ‘all hands on deck’ response to Hurricane Helene

By Henry Durand

SUWANEE, Ga. — Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief (GBDR) coordinator Dwain Carter said Saturday that the response in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s rampage through Georgia would be an “all hands on deck effort.” Carter said a huge area of the state has been affected by the storm, with effects ranging from wind damage to flooding, and loss of power and communications. As many of the GBDR’s 1,100 volunteers as are able to respond will be activated in the state-wide callout.

In addition, GBDR is coordinating with national agencies and other state disaster relief organizations to help in as many areas as possible.

Carter stressed that the response could be hampered by the widespread power loss. Georgia Power reported on Saturday that despite restoring power to more than 440,000 customers,  some 540,000 remained without power. In addition, communications are down across much of the impacted area as cell towers were knocked down and internet is out. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will be flying in satellite phones for the emergency management agencies in each county to facilitate communications, Carter said.

The lack of electricity is also causing issues with fuel and water supplies. In many places, Carter said, the GBDR is working to arrange diesel fuel, liquid propane and water deliveries.

“We are moving as fast as we can and have already begun deployments” he said, “keeping in mind that we are still just 24 to 36 hours past the storm event.”

Carter said that the response would initially be based in four areas, though plans are subject to change as conditions evolve.

A kitchen will be deployed to Northside Baptist Church in Valdosta, run by Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief and the Salvation Army. That kitchen will be able to provide 10,000 meals per day — 5,000 lunches and 5,000 dinners.

Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief and the Red Cross will operate a kitchen at Fleming Baptist Church in Augusta, providing a similar number of meals. Southbridge Community Church in Statesboro will host a GBDR kitchen in conjunction with the Salvation Army.

At First Baptist Church Alma, a feeding unit will be operated by Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief and the Salvation Army, though currently its deployment is on hold due to a lack of water.

Each of those sites will also have an incident management team present to coordinate recovery efforts and liaise with other agencies providing relief. Recovery units operating from each site will assist homeowners in the area with flood damage, fallen tree removal, etc.

The family care ministry of GBDR will be crucial to the effort, Carter said. That group will initially provide boxes and packing supplies to families to preserve what they can of their belongings.

Carter said the family care teams will not just “show up, help and leave.” They will do follow-up visits to help support the affected families, advance the gospel and let them know that “the Lord loves them in the midst of a disaster.”

This will be a long-term effort, Carter said, and he expects these follow-up visits to continue days and even weeks after the initial recovery response.

Georgia Baptist chaplains will also be present at every site to minister to volunteers as well as storm victims.

At Brewton-Parker College in Mount Vernon, Carter said, there are some 140 students stranded without power or food. The college reported Friday that roads in and around the school were impassible, and cell and text service was unavailable or spotty. Louisiana Disaster Relief will send a quick response feeding unit and a chainsaw unit to assist at the school.

A full incident command team will be set up at the Georgia Baptist Mission Board’s headquarters in Suwanee. That team will coordinate cross-agency efforts and manage the overall GBDR response.

Anyone desiring to donate in support of the ongoing relief efforts of Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief should visit Mission Georgia and click on the “GIVE” link at the top right.

This article originally appeared in the Christian Index.

Tennessee Baptist DR responding to Helene’s impact

By Chris Turner, David Dawson, Lonnie Wilkey 

NEWPORT, Tenn. — Eastern Tennessee experienced significant and widespread damage Friday afternoon due to torrential rains and high winds from Hurricane Helene.

Helene made landfall in the Florida Panhandle late Thursday and forcefully progressed through Eastern Georgia into Tennessee along the Appalachian Mountains, causing severe flooding and wind damage in numerous East Tennessee counties. Newport, Irwin, Hampton and other cities have been affected.

“It has been a catastrophic afternoon,” said Randy C. Davis, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board (TBMB) executive director. “Our hearts are broken for the people in Cocke, Washington, Unicoi, Greene and other counties that may be eventually affected by the severe weather and its aftermath.

“We are getting news of lost houses and churches. The needs will be great. Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief teams are already on the move. Tennessee Baptists can certainly be praying, but if individuals and churches would like to go beyond that, the most immediate need will be available funds to supply the immediate needs of DR (Disaster Relief) teams as they begin to serve and help,” Davis said.

More information about donating can be found at TNDisasterRelief.org.

Garry Maddox, disaster relief mobilization specialist for TBMB, said that as of Friday afternoon, “all of our East Tennessee DR teams that are available to go out are now responding.”

Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for TBMB, said DR teams will continue to assess the situation over the next couple of days and will set up an incident command post — or possibly two — later this weekend or Monday.

The flooding was caused by an abundance of water flowing from two lakes in North Carolina. The Walters Dam near the Waterville Community southwest of Asheville was initially reported as a catastrophic failure with that water washing out part of Interstate 40 and flooding Newport, Tenn. That report was later amended by the National Weather Service stating that the dam had not failed but was unable to contain the rising water behind it.

Don Owen, director of God’s Warehouse in Morristown, Tenn., and DR director for Nolichucky Baptist Association, told the Baptist and Reflector on Friday (Sept. 27) that his team has been working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in that area and have 60 jobs, almost all of which have been tree removal on power lines. There are power outages in Morristown and the larger surrounding area.

Kaye Thomas, volunteer coordinator for Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief and member at Sevierville First Baptist Church, reported the water level in the Nolichucky River was predicted to crest Saturday at 21 feet, two feet higher than its previous record.

The community of Hampton has been completely cut off by the flooding, and 12 families have lost their homes, Thomas said.

Enon Baptist Church, located on Highway 107 between Johnson City and Greeneville and just yards from the Nolichucky River, is reported to have been flooded.

Tim Grooms, pastor of Riverview Baptist Church in Newport, told the Baptist and Reflector on Friday afternoon, “Our church building basement is flooded, but we aren’t allowed to go to the area due to the current dangers of constant rising waters. This is the worst flood of my lifetime.”

The Knoxville News Sentinel reported that the Pigeon River at Newport rose to over three times its flood stage by 3 p.m. on Sept. 27, surpassing record levels and reaching more than 26 feet high. The previous record was 23 feet, 4 inches. The water continues to rise.

Similarly, the French Broad River at Newport was expected to reach more than double its flood stage by the end of the day, the newspaper reported. By 2:45 p.m. it had reached over 18 feet but was expected to reach 23 feet. The record for the river is 24 feet, the report said.

WATE (Channel 6) reported that Cocke County mayor Rob Mathis is urging people to “relocate immediately” if they are near water. He has officially declared a state of emergency for Cocke County. 

This story originally appeared in the Baptist and Reflector.