Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief (IBDR) mass feeding teams are on “Go” status to coordinate with Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Teams will depart Thursday (Sept. 26) or Friday (Sept. 27) with the specifics to be determined by the storm’s track.
At 11 a.m. Wednesday, the National Weather Service reported, “Helene has become a hurricane and is forecast to strengthen rapidly into a major hurricane prior to making landfall along the northeast Gulf Coast Thursday evening.” Later that afternoon, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecasted Helene to be a Category 4 hurricane upon landfall along Florida’s gulf coast. Wind speeds in a Category 4 hurricane can range from 130-156 mph causing catastrophic damage.
According to the NHS, “A catastrophic and deadly storm surge is likely along portions of the Florida Big Bend coast, where inundation could reach as high as 20 feet above ground level, along with destructive waves. There is also a danger of life-threatening storm surge along the remainder of the west coast of the Florida Peninsula.”
Trained mass feeding volunteers are to contact Arnold Ramage, State Disaster Relief Coordinator, if they can serve. All other ministries are on standby for possible deployment. Prayer is requested for those in the Hurricane’s path and for the volunteers who will be ministering to them.
The storm is so large, hurricane conditions are expected 90 miles north of the Georgia-Florida state line. Emergencies have been declared by the governors of Florida and Georgia and the President has declared an emergency in Florida.
Baptist Press reported Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief ministries are on alert.
IBDR has almost 500 trained volunteers who serve on chainsaw and flood recovery teams, with shower, laundry, and food service, and at every callout, as chaplains. IBDR is a partner with Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, part of the SBC’s Send Relief compassion ministry. It is the third largest disaster relief organization, after the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.
A team of IBDR volunteers recently coordinated with MBDR volunteers to help cook over 24,000 meals following Hurricane Francine, which made landfall in Louisiana as a category 2 storm on September 11. The team, led by Tom Clore, IBDR Feeding Coordinator and a member of First Baptist Church in Eldorado, was based at Renew Church in Baton Rouge where they worked out of the MBDR “Spirit Kitchen” feeding trailer cooking meals which were served by the Salvation Army. The team, which also included members of First Baptist Churches Karnak and Du Quoin, ministered in the area for four days before returning to Illinois.
A deployment of IBDR flood recovery and chainsaw teams to Morgan City and Houma, Louisiana was canceled after assessors determined existing teams already onsite could do the work.
Next IBDR training
The next IBDR training event is Oct. 4-5 at the IBSA Building in Springfield. DART (Disaster Assistance Response Training) is a cooperative effort between SEND Relief and IBDR to equip responders in providing compassionate ministry that meets the physical and spiritual needs of people during crisis events overseas. It covers the basics of international disaster response, how to assess and report needs, coordination with local and international disaster relief partners, and best practices for providing technical assistance and relief supplies to communities in need. For more information about this free training event, visit IBSA.org.
If you would like to become a trained Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief volunteer, IBDR 101 training is available online 24/7. The course fee is $50 which includes a background check and certificate upon completion. For more information, visit IBSA.org/dr.
IBDR is a volunteer organization ministering with the Illinois Baptist State Association.