MORGAN CITY, La. (BP) — Hurricane Francine made landfall Wednesday night, hitting the Louisiana coast in Terrebonne Parish, with Morgan City facing particularly bad damage. Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR), with help from Send Relief, has been assessing and preparing to send volunteer teams to bring help and hope.
“Louisiana Baptists Disaster Relief personnel and volunteers are on the ground in the areas affected by Hurricane Francine,” said John Kyle, director of communications for Louisiana Baptists. “We’ve also been in contact with our state and national partners who are standing by to respond as assessments are made.”
More than 400,000 people have been left without power in Louisiana and Mississippi, and SBDR is establishing feeding sites to help feed survivors until electricity can be restored.
“While there appears to be localized wind damage, flooding may be the primary issue,” Kyle said. “We are reaching out through our associational mission strategists to get an idea of how many churches and pastors have been affected.”
When the storm hit Morgan City, Francine was a Category 2, and residents have reported downed trees, damaged roofs and flooding. While SBDR assessments are still ongoing, SBDR leaders expect volunteers will assist homeowners with recovery work, and preparations have already been made to establish three feeding sites.
SBDR has confirmed a feeding site at Renew Church in Baton Rouge, coordinating with Louisiana Baptists and Missouri Baptists in conjunction with The Salvation Army to serve the surrounding area as well as hard-hit Morgan City.
A second feeding site at Williams Boulevard Baptist Church in Kenner, a suburb of New Orleans, will be supported by 25,000 meals provided by Send Relief for Louisiana SBDR volunteers to prepare, and Arkansas SBDR plans to distribute the meals to those in need in the community.
Louisiana SBDR also confirmed First Baptist Church of New Orleans as a third mass-care feeding site, which will be supported by Send Relief and the Louisiana Baptist Convention.
“Send Relief is providing temporary roofing, 25,000 meals, bottled water, food distribution resources and flood recovery supplies to help Southern Baptist volunteers assist survivors of Hurricane Francine,” said Coy Webb, Send Relief crisis response director. “With the help of Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief and other volunteers on the ground, we want to bring help and healing to those impacted by the storm.”
In New Orleans, several areas experienced flooding, including Metairie — another suburb of New Orleans — where overwhelming rainfall caused pumps to fail and made several streets impassable, according to The Weather Channel. The outlet also reported several rescue efforts as survivors were caught up in flash flooding from the storm.
“A total of 26 people were rescued [in the Thibodaux area in Lafourche Parish] and most were transported to the emergency shelter at the Lockport Community Center,” the Lafourche Parish sheriff’s office announced Wednesday.
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary president Jamie Dew shared the seminary’s plans with students and campus residents in anticipation of the storm, and he thanked Southern Baptists for their prayers and support after Francine had passed.
“The campus held strong through Hurricane Francine, and we have minimal damage,” Dew posted to X. “More importantly, all of our people are safe and well. Thankful!”
By Thursday morning, the storm was downgraded to a tropical depression as it continued its trek throughout the South.
Those wishing to donate to disaster relief efforts can do so by visiting LouisianaBaptists.org/donate or by visiting SendRelief.org/hurricane.
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Brandon Elrod writes for the North American Mission Board.)
