By Mickey Noah
ALPHARETTA, Ga. – Although the multi-state outbreak of some 100 Weather Channel-confirmed tornadoes in March -- claiming at least 39 lives -- was not as deadly as those that ravaged Alabama and several other states in April 2011, last month did record the second highest number of tornado deaths of any March in U.S. history.
On Friday, March 2, 21of the 39 deaths came in Kentucky, where three separate EF-3 tornadoes ripped through 46 of Kentucky’s 120 counties, injuring another 300.
But also on “Tornado Friday,” a massive EF-4 tornado barreled down the main street of Henryville, Ind., a small town of 6,000. Thirteen died in Indiana alone. Some 100 Indiana Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) volunteers arrived in Henryville a few days later to start cleaning up the town.
Date Created: 4/10/2012 1:54:29 PM
By Mickey Noah
WEST LIBERTY, Ky. – Some 100 Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers from three states continue to respond in five Kentucky towns following the devastating tornadoes that rolled through Kentucky March 2, killing 21 people in the Bluegrass State.
In all, last Friday’s tornadoes killed at least 39 people across five Midwest and Southern states. In addition to the 21 victims in Kentucky, 13 perished in Indiana, three in Ohio and one each in Alabama and Georgia.
Date Created: 3/8/2012 4:39:45 PM
By Mickey Noah
HENRYVILLE, Ind. – Pastor Toby Jenkins and 200 others were hunkered down in the basement of First Baptist Church of Henryville about 3 p.m. last Friday, March 2, when an EF-4 tornado barreled down the main street of the small town of 6,000.
Jenkins and the 200 survived, as did the church, although most of its windows were blown out by the 175 mph winds. Houses on either side of the church were destroyed. Half of Henryville—the birthplace of Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Col. Sanders—is gone.
“It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Jenkins, “and I’m from Mississippi and went through Katrina.” Jenkins had briefly left the basement just prior to the tornado and saw the black funnel cloud coming toward him and the church.
Date Created: 3/5/2012 5:36:19 PM
With thousands of "mud-out" jobs awaiting volunteers in the wake of Hurricane Irene, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief has tapped into a new generation of volunteers. In a partnership between Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia, Liberty University and SBDR, 200 Liberty students are serving in the Binghamton, N.Y., area cleaning flooded homes. The goal was for students to complete 260 jobs, about 10 percent of the homes flooded in the area.
Date Created: 10/7/2011 9:03:02 AM
By Joe Conway
ALPHARETTA, Ga. – More than 2,000 Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers are engaged in an ongoing response across North America ministering in a dozen states. In addition, some volunteers remain involved in relief work in Japan and Haiti. Because of the unprecedented number of disasters this year, SBDR leaders have identified a need for more trained volunteers and are offering ongoing training opportunities.
North American Mission Board Disaster Operations Center manager Mike Morgan said training events continue to help bolster the roster of trained DR volunteers. Twenty state conventions currently have units in response to disasters.
Date Created: 9/16/2011 4:33:51 PM
In this report from television station WBTW in Florence, S.C., South Carolina Baptist Convention chaplain consultant Richard Sale recalls his experience working with the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief response at Ground Zero. Sale previously ministered in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.
Date Created: 9/12/2011 10:53:17 AM
By Mickey Noah
ALPHARETTA, Ga. – Southern Baptist Disaster Relief
coordinators are being forced to re-calibrate response plans for the Northeast
because of a second round of flooding caused by heavy rainfall from Tropical
Storm Lee, which has forced the evacuation of as many as 100,000 residents from
New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
The flooding of the Susquehanna River – expected to crest as
high as 41 feet – caused the evacuation of some 100,000 residents in the
Wyoming, Valley, Pa., area, including up to 75,000 in Wilkes-Barre. Another 6,000-10,000 evacuated homes in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania’s capital.
Date Created: 9/12/2011 10:12:20 AM
North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell provides an update on Southern Baptist Disaster Relief efforts ramping up in the wake of Hurricane Irene – and shares how Southern Baptists can support the effort financially.Date Created: 8/31/2011 3:54:54 PM
By Joe Conway
Imagine India’s Yamuna River without the Taj Mahal. Paris without the Eiffel Tower. The loss of the World Trade Center’s twin towers left a similarly unimaginable hole in the American landscape and psyche.
September 11, 2001’s terrorist assaults on the United States changed more than the lower Manhattan skyline. The unprecedented attacks that ended so tragically in Washington, D.C., rural Pennsylvania and New York City also forever changed the face of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief.
Date Created: 8/31/2011 8:56:52 AM
By Mickey Noah
ALPHARETTA, Ga. – In the wake of Hurricane Irene – which has now claimed 40 lives --Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) leaders and volunteers are mobilizing quickly to mount the largest response to a natural disaster in the United States since Gulf Coast Hurricanes Ike and Gustav three years ago.
Coordinated by the North American Mission Board’s disaster operations center in Alpharetta, Ga., Southern Baptists are deploying to respond in 11 states up and down the Atlantic Coast –North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont.
Date Created: 8/30/2011 3:59:07 PM