Crosses carved in a stump serve as a reminder. Photo from ABDR Facebook
Arkansas Baptist Disaster Relief (ABDR) recently wrapped up a five-week deployment to Georgia in response to the widespread damage from Hurricane Helene.
During their deployment, ABDR volunteers served 3,067 meals and completed 200 jobs.
“We did everything. Chainsaw recovery. Heavy equipment. Box ministry. Feeding. Chaplaincy and assessing … I think the only unit we didn’t deploy was the shower unit,” Disaster Relief Coordinator Greg Hutchison said.
They worked a total of 10,622 hours and celebrated 39 professions of faith.
Hurricane Helene made landfall on Sept. 26 in the Big Bend area of Florida 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 caused historic rainfall flooding, wind damage, and generated some tornado activity.
Within the week, ABDR had teams deployed to provide aid and the love of Jesus Christ to people in need.
“It was a terrible disaster. They all are, but this one had a magnitude that I’ve never seen before,” said Hutchison, who has been serving through ABDR since 2001.
The response quickly became a multiple state callout with the potential of being one of the largest deployments the southeast has seen in several years.
“It was a textbook example of cooperation between all of the Conventions. Disaster Relief teams from all over the U.S. went to that area after Helene to help those folks after that storm,” Hutchison said. “It’s just one big family. Everybody worked together. Everybody cooperated. Everybody helped each other out if there was a need. It was just an unbelievable example of the Cooperative Program of Baptists working together.”
Disaster Relief Director Randy Garrett called it a team effort.
“We all work together. Any teams that went down there, we met the challenge and completed the mission. It’s always hard to go into some of these situations but we know that when we go in, we’ll be organized and help those people during disaster,” Garrett said.
ABDR teams primarily served in Valdosta, Georgia, and Vidalia, Georgia. Garrett touted Northside Baptist Church in Valdosta and Pastor Robby Foster and ABDR staff and volunteers.
“In a disaster, we are able to reach people that we normally would not be able to,” Garrett said. “I am so proud of all of our great DR volunteers, how they stood up and stayed there five weeks.”
“We have some of the best volunteers in the nation,” Hutchison said.
A prolonged deployment can create significant expenses. To support ABDR’s efforts and stay informed, visit www.abscdisasterrelief.org.
Since wrapping up deployment in Georgia, ABDR has already had teams deployed in Northwest Arkansas following storms that rolled through the area in early November.