Submitted photo shows downed trees, damage to structure.
As Arkansas continues to get hit with severe weather, Arkansas Baptist Disaster Relief (ABDR) continues to serve and be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ in times of disaster.
“This has been the wildest, craziest spring. I’ve been the director since 2014, and I have never seen storms like we’ve had this year in Arkansas. It’s not that we’ve had these monster storms that we’re traditionally used to that come in and really mess things up and we have to bring in resources, these are scattered all over the state. Primarily the northern half of the state,” said Randy Garrett, director of ABDR. “It’s just an ongoing process.”
He said ABDR work throughout the state has been almost nonstop since March when storms swept through Northeast Arkansas. According to the Arkansas Weather Statistics for 2025, from March 14-15, 14 tornadoes impacted the state of Arkansas. Year to date, the statistics show 43 tornadoes reported across the state.
Currently, ABDR volunteers are serving in Northwest Arkansas and around Forrest City.
This deployment follows the severe weather that hit the state on Sunday and Monday, May 18-19. The National Weather Service (NWS) reported survey teams found EF2 tornado damage that moved from Greenland to Elkins and other EF1 tornadoes in Northwest Arkansas on Monday evening. In Forrest City, it was reported storms produced large hail and destructive wind gusts over 60 mph.
Several disaster relief teams from around the state – including Cross Church NWA, Northwest Baptist Association, Beck Spur Baptist of Forrest City, Central Baptist of Jonesboro, Indian Springs Baptist of Bryant, and Tri-County Baptist Association – are lending aid.
“It’s just been ongoing, but the resilience of our volunteers is just phenomenal,” Garrett said. “So far, every storm that we’ve had this year we’ve been able to take care of internally and that is because of all the great volunteers we have as well as the leadership that we’ve had over the years.”
Garrett noted ABDR’s successful regional training event amidst it all on April 26 at Central Baptist Church in North Little Rock. One hundred and fifty people attended the training. Approximately 60 of those were new to ABDR. There were also a lot of younger faces at the training, he said.
The next ABDR regional training event is scheduled Aug. 9 at New Life Baptist in Alexander. Another training will be Sept. 6 at the Olive Street Campus of First Baptist Church in Rogers. For more information about ABDR and ways to help, visit abscdisasterrelief.org.
Sunday, June 1, has been designated on the Southern Baptist Convention calendar as a special day to recognize and raise awareness of Disaster Relief ministries.
According to the ABDR website, Disaster Relief is a ministry of the heart – caring people going to people in crisis to offer the help, healing, and hope of Jesus Christ.
“We are there to represent Jesus Christ in times of disaster,” Garrett said.