Alabama Baptist disaster relief volunteers respond to Hurricane Harvey

Alabama Baptist disaster relief volunteers respond to Hurricane Harvey

By Carrie Brown McWhorter

The Alabama Baptist

As Hurricane Irma made its way through Florida and the Atlantic-Gulf Coast region, Alabama Baptist associations, churches and disaster relief teams continued to do what they could to help Hurricane Harvey survivors in Texas and Louisiana.

Debbie Nichols and her sister Heather Hitchcock drove all day Sept. 6 headed to Bayou City Fellowship Church in Houston. There they helped set up disaster relief (DR) administrative headquarters to coordinate teams and donations that will come in and go out of the area in the weeks ahead.

An encounter with a woman in Wal-Mart reminded her that “divine appointments” are one reason Alabama Baptist DR volunteers do what they do.

“We were in line for self-checkout and a woman thanked us for being here. I asked if she had any damage and she said not much, just some leaks from rain,” Nichols posted to Facebook. “I asked if I could pray with her. She said yes. Right there in line at Walmart.”

Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM), said available teams from Alabama DR will be going to Texas and Louisiana in the future to help with whatever needs exist.

“Mudouts is one of the primary duties our people will be having in Houston and coastal areas in Texas and Louisiana,” Lance said, noting that Alabama DR will be in Texas, Louisiana, Florida and other states “for the long haul.”

Three mudout teams were at work in Texas, including an 18-member team with volunteers from both DeKalb and Sand Mountain Baptist associations. Coordinator Morris Clements said he didn’t know what to expect when they arrived in Texas but one thing was certain.

“We’re carrying Christ to people in crisis,” he said. “We will be working with the people whatever their needs are.”

Frank Nelson, Bessemer Baptist DR coordinator, said the widespread flooding in Texas and Louisiana will make the work of mudout teams both critical and challenging.

“Generally we have to scoop out mud, carry out appliances and furniture, pull up carpets and then cut out drywall about a foot above the water level,” he said. “Then we have to spray everything down with a solution to treat and prevent mold and mildew.”

Many possessions damaged in a flood cannot be salvaged. But if mudout work is not done quickly, a home’s structure may be damaged beyond repair, too.

Bessemer Baptist Association’s team expected to deploy Sept. 18, he said, though Hurricane Irma might change that plan.

In addition to three mudout teams deployed to Texas, two shower units and two operators were deployed to Houston and a skid-steer loader was sent to Victoria, Texas, with two operators, according to SBOM disaster relief strategist Mark Wakefield.

As Hurricane Irma threatened Florida and the Atlantic-Gulf Coast region, Wakefield said the mudout teams would transition out of Texas but the laundry and skid steer units would stay with their assigned Texas-based teams with minimum staffing.

Several associations and churches sent relief supplies to help local churches in Texas and Louisiana. Columbia Baptist Association, Coffee Baptist Association, Randolph Baptist Association and Cleburne Baptist Association sent trucks loaded with bottled water, cleaning products, disposable diapers and toilet paper, as did several churches including: Beatrice Baptist Church, Beatrice, in Pine Barren Baptist Association; Ray Baptist, Alexander City, and Rockford Baptist, both in Central Baptist Association; First Baptist, Robertsdale, in Baldwin Baptist Association; and First Baptist, Albertville, in Marshall Baptist Association.

More workers also are preparing to go. Emergency DR training classes held across the state added several hundred credentialed volunteers to the pool of trained workers, according to Scotty Goldman, director of the office of global missions at SBOM.

Seventy people attended the first training session, held in Prattville on Sept. 2 just days after Harvey’s landfall. In Dothan, 78 came out for training on Sept. 5. Additional emergency trainings scheduled in Decatur, Bay Minette and Opelika were expected to draw large numbers as well, Goldman said.

In Texas, the need for volunteers will continue to be great, said Tom Billings, director of missions for the Houston-area Union Baptist Association.

In a Facebook post, Billings told of his visits among flood survivors.

“The accumulated possessions of a lifetime – we now call it trash – were piled in yards all along the neighborhoods,” he wrote. “Unless you’ve seen and experienced it firsthand, it’s hard to describe. Just the thought of it, though, is enough to break one’s heart.”

Billings urged churches, associations and communities to mobilize volunteers.

“We need people. Sure, we need money and prayer. But we need people who can come and help.”

For information on how to pray, give and serve, visit sbdr.org/hurricanerelief.