Updated September 1, 2021
Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief Teams were called out September 1 to respond to the damage caused by Hurricane Ida in Mandeville, Louisiana. Illinois State Disaster Relief Director Butch Porter had notified teams August 30 that national Southern Baptist Disaster Relief had asked Illinois teams to partner with Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief in its response. Some Illinois teams were sent to Texarkana to join Missouri teams in staging while they awaited location orders.
At this time Illinois is sending chainsaw and flood recovery teams. Porter said the state has also been asked to send feeding, assessment/chaplain, and shower/laundry assistance teams to the area.
With the pandemic still gripping the nation, Porter advised volunteers in his email, “Our Covid-19 policy will be to follow CDC guidelines.”
He instructed volunteers to contact their regional leaders with any questions regarding the call-out. In the north, contact Harold Booze at (309) 256-0925. In central Illinois call, Dennis Felix at (618) 980-1954. The southern contact is John Lindeman at (618) 559-9375. Email Porter at ButchPorter@IBSA.org with any other questions.
Southern Baptist Disaster Relief teams in several states are also on alert or have already been deployed in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, which made landfall Aug. 29 as a Category 4 storm.
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary escaped major damage from Ida, according to an Aug. 30 social media update by the seminary’s president, Jamie Dew. However, due to large scale power outages, classes will move online and students are expected to be displaced for the next week to three weeks said Dew.