Georgia Flooding Activates Disaster Relief Teams

By Carol Pipes 

ATLANTA—Michael Dover surveys the damage outside his home in Austell, Ga., his backyard a sea of muddy water. Looking at remnants of the water-soaked wood from his workshop piled in his driveway, Dover, like many other Atlanta residents, now faces the harsh reality of clean up.

Floodwaters that covered much of metro-Atlanta earlier this week continue to recede, and now the real work begins. As homeowners, schools and business begin the process of cleaning the mud out of their homes and ripping out soaked drywall, Southern Baptists will be right there alongside them.

Historic flooding, after a two-year drought, caused tremendous damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure in north Georgia. After several days of steady rain, the ground was saturated from Alabama through Georgia into eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. Torrents on September 21, clogged Atlanta's Monday morning commute. By mid-afternoon, school buses had to return students to schools because of impassable roads. Parents were beckoned by school officials to retrieve their children. Rainfall amounts for that day alone, according to the National Weather Service, ranged from 9 to 12 inches in western areas of metro Atlanta. Ten deaths have been reported with some people still unaccounted for.

In Austell, about 15 miles west of downtown Atlanta, Sweetwater Creek overflowed its banks submerging entire neighborhoods in murky water. It is estimated that 50 percent of homes in Austell, have flood damage with a total of 50,000 flooded homes in metro Atlanta.

Georgia Baptist Convention (GBC) Disaster Relief units responded as early as Tuesday with feeding units. GBC mudout units have also been activated.

“Our immediate goal is to get people back in their homes as soon as possible,” said Stuart Lang, Disaster Relief Coordinator for the GBC. “Prayer is absolutely vital to the effort right now as we assess the damages and needs in various areas that have been effected.”

The North American Mission Board’s Disaster Relief Operation Center will open Saturday morning, September 26, to serve as a call center for victims needing assistance. Volunteers will collect, package, and pass work orders to the Incident Command Team and the recovery units. NAMB’s DR team has alerted surrounding states of the need of mudout and feeding units. A Tennessee Baptist Convention unit is preparing meals for flood victims in Chattanooga, just north of the Georgia border.

“We’re working with Georgia Baptists to identify sites and pockets of need across north Georgia,” said Mickey Caison, NAMB’s team leader for adult volunteer mobilization. “Once again Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers are stepping up to provide effective disaster response in cooperation with our state partners.” Assisting NAMB and the GBC with need assessment is a team from Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.

This will be a long-term effort, according to Lang. “There will be multiple opportunities for volunteers to assist in the future.”

This article reprinted from Baptist Press with permission. Carol Pipes is editor of On Mission magazine and publications coordinator for the North American Mission Board

Following are a list of locations and units involved in disaster assistance.

TRION/SUMMERVILE, GA

Georgia Operation Center:
FBC Trion
95 Church Street
Trion, GA   30753

Lodging for Volunteers:
FBC Summerville
125 Georgia Avenue
Summerville, GA   30747

Units Deployed To This Location:
Georgia Feeding Unit
Georgia Mudout
Chaplains

TOCCOA, GA

Georgia Operation Center:
Ebenezer Baptist Church
49 Rose Lane
Toccoa, GA   30577

Lodging for Volunteers:
Georgia Baptist Conference Center
462 Sonrise Way
Toccoa, GA   30577

Units Deployed To This Location:
Georgia Mudout
Chaplains

AUSTELL, GA

Georgia Operation Center:
FBC Austell
5991 Love Street
Austell, GA   30168

Units Deploying to This Location:
Georgia Feeding Unit
Georgia Mudout
Chaplains

POWDER SPRINGS, GA

Operation Center:
FBC Powder Springs
4330 North Avenue
Powder Springs, GA   30127

Units Deploying To This Location:
Georgia Feeding Unit
Georgia Mudout
Chaplains

DOUGLASVILLE, GA

NAMB Mobile Operation Post:
Crossroads Church
5960 Stewart Parkway
Douglasville, GA   30135

Units Deploying to This Location:
NAMB ICS Team
Alabama CUR Teams
Georgia Feeding
Georgia Communications

ALPHARETTA, GA

NAMB Disaster Operations Center:
4200 North Point Pkwy
Alpharetta, GA 30022

Monetary donations designated for Disaster Relief are needed and can be forwarded to the GBC at 6405 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth, GA 30097.