Arkansas Baptist Disaster Relief (ABDR) has deployed teams to Georgia in response to the widespread damage from Hurricane Helene.
Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida just southwest of Perry as a dangerous Category 4 hurricane with wind speeds of 140 mph, life-threatening storm surge, and torrential rains.
The storm was a fast-moving storm that tracked northward rapidly with impacts in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Southwest Virginia. It has caused historic rainfall flooding, wind damage, and generated some tornado activity.
ABDR is leading efforts in the Valdosta, Georgia, area with an Incident Management Team, chaplains, and assessors already on the ground. ABDR recovery teams were expected to deploy to Valdosta on Monday, Sept. 30.
Additionally, the ABDR Red River feeding unit left Monday for Vidalia, Georgia. ABDR is also sending a 200-kilowatt generator to Vidalia and a 100-kilowatt generator to Augusta, Georgia, where Missouri Disaster Relief is manning a site and needed additional generator power.
As of Sunday, Sept. 29, there were more than 90 confirmed deaths across the Southeast reported from the storm, and 2 million people were still without power in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia. Power outages were expected to last from days to potentially weeks.
Georgia had widespread damage across the state with southern Georgia getting hit hard. Valdosta had over 100 buildings damaged, and rescue operations are ongoing.
This response has quickly become a multiple state callout and has the potential of being one of the largest deployments the southeast has seen in several years. State disaster relief teams lending aid include Missouri, Texans on Mission, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana.
The giving of Arkansas Baptists to the Cooperative Program and Dixie Jackson Arkansas Missions Offering enables ABDR to immediately deploy in response to a disaster. A prolonged deployment can create significant expenses.
According to Arkansas Baptist State Convention Missions Team Lead Dr. Sam Roberts, the deployment is expected to last a minimum of four to six weeks. The cost associated with this deployment is an estimated $3,000 to $5,000 per week per team.
“Any consideration of gifts for the Arkansas Baptist Disaster Relief is greatly appreciated,” Roberts said.
Pray for those impacted by the storm and those who are meeting and preparing to meet needs. The situation is evolving moment by moment.
In addition to ABDR’s deployment in Georgia, there are still ABDR teams on the ground in Morgan City, Louisiana, working alongside Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief, aiding people impacted by Hurricane Francine which affected the Louisiana coastal area mid-September.
To support ABDR’s efforts and stay informed, visit www.abscdisasterrelief.org.