Nashville, Tenn. (BP) | One year ago, residents along the Gulf Coast were having fun in the rarest-of-rare snow events. That mood is different today for those in areas forecast to receive severe winter weather this weekend, with predictions of freezing rain and snow accumulations in feet, not inches.
The lines of precipitation and amounts continue to shift. Earlier models called for snow and ice on a line with I-20 across Alabama and Georgia. Even so, earlier this morning The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore pointed to forecasts of a “catastrophic amount of ice” across northern Louisiana, southern Arkansas and the northern third of Mississippi that could bring more than 2 inches of freezing rain.
“We’re trying to dot the I’s and cross the T’s,” said Dennis Landrum, associational mission strategist for Desoto-Tate Baptist Association in Hernando, Miss. “I was in Clarksdale (Miss.) in ’94 when we got six inches of ice and didn’t have electricity for 22 days. You try to prepare, but you really can’t.”
Nevertheless, Landrum has been in contact with pastors. A feeding team is on standby, should extended power outages occur. Many pastors have prepared videos of their sermons in case conditions are too dangerous for churches to meet in person on Sunday.
Tornadoes that hit the area in recent years have prepared them “for taking care of and feeding people.”
“All it takes is less than 2 inches of ice for power lines to pop and transformers to blow,” said Landrum. “We’re praying God sends snow, and not rain.”
Landrum and other state associational leaders met over Zoom with state Disaster Relief director Hubert Yates Wednesday morning (January 21).
“We’re looking at up to a half-inch of ice across the state, and that’s enough to basically shut down our transportation system and cause widespread power outages, possibly damage pipes and cause water issues,” Yates told BP shortly before going into a conference call with the National Weather Service.
Illinois volunteers prepare
Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers have been put on “standby” to serve. In an email sent to volunteers today (Thursday, January 22), IBDR Interim State Director Glen Carty asked them to “be aware of any problems” in their own areas should assistance be needed. Current weather models are forecasting moderate to heavy snowfall in the southern part of the state along with temperatures falling well below zero. Total snow accumulation is forecasted to lessen as the storm progresses farther north into the state.
Carty noted there may be the possibility of a “call out” for feeding, shower/laundry, and chainsaw teams in the coming weeks in states where heavy icing is expected to fell trees causing causing power outages and other damage.
Recent years have brought severe ice events in Texas. Volunteer crews for Disaster Relief in the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC) were placed on alert Wednesday.
“We pray the damage from the upcoming storm will be minimal, if any,” said SBTC DR Director Scottie Stice. “We also pray we can be a blessing to the community if needed.”
Chainsaw teams are joining those responding to shower, laundry and feeding needs, he added.
Yates noted that response times will be complicated if temperatures don’t rise above freezing.
A national meeting of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief directors takes place next week in Ohio. John Heading, Ohio state DR director and chair of the national DR steering committee, expects a discussion over responding to the storms expected this weekend.
“We know that January brings certain weather,” he said. “But yes, we’ll talk about it on Tuesday and Wednesday during our roundtables.”
Heading said 3 to 5 inches of snow are expected there, nothing that worries Ohioans. But even so, a training session on using heavy equipment will be made all the better by moving actual snow.
In Mississippi, Yates encouraged associational leaders to focus on what they can do locally, as ice would greatly limit travel.
“We told them to watch out for neighbors,” he said. “Extended power outages will require small feeding operations for families and those without power. Check on the elderly and those alone or living in substandard housing or heating. All those issues compound with bad weather.”
-With additional reporting by Illinois Baptist Staff