Southern Baptists from nine state conventions providing relief to  Ga. flood victims

By Mickey Noah

Larry Harris of Hueytown, Ala., and member of North Highlands Baptist Church hauls wet insulation from a flooded home in Powder Springs, Ga. Harris lost his foot after an accident during Katrina relief and is still working disasters. Photo by John Swain

Homeowner Lucinda Bryant (right) goes through her water-soaked family album with DR worker Claudette Jordan, of Guyton, Ga., a member of Pine Street Baptist Church. Photo by John Swain

Clarence Sims, a chaplain, with the Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief helps clear debris from a flooded home. Sims is from McCalla, Ala., and a member of North Highlands Baptist Church in Hueytown, Ala. Photo by John Swain

Catherine Ogburn and her son Roosevelt stand in front of Catherine's home that withstood a foot of water during the recent Atlanta floods. A disaster relief crew from Alabama helped clear debris from their home. Photo by Adam Miller

Southern Baptist feeding units located at First Baptist Church-Chattahoochee and First Baptist Church of Austell have prepared more than 8,600 hot meals, according to Bruce Poss, disaster operations coordinator for the North American Mission Board (NAMB), based in Alpharetta.

Over 70 “mud-out” jobs have already been completed by Baptists since the flood, out of some 200 work requests by local flood victims. In addition to feeding and recovery units, Baptists are also providing victims and volunteers with units for hot showers and laundry. Chaplains are available for counseling.

Southern Baptist disaster relief teams have been mobilized from state conventions in Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Texas (Texas Baptist Men), South Carolina, Nebraska, Tennessee and Virginia (SBCV and VBMB).

“We’re going to be involved in this for two or three weeks,” says Stuart Lang, disaster relief director for the Georgia Baptist Convention, headquartered in Duluth, Ga. “But I feel very good about the way things are going. We have a good infrastructure system in place to process the orders (from flood victims), and get them into the hands of the people doing the work.

“I also feel good about how our local churches and associations have gotten on board,” Lang said. “They may not all be fully disaster relief-trained, but we have helped many of them understand how to do mud-out work safely and efficiently. A lot of credit should go to the churches that are going out and doing the work without waiting on us. It’s a great testimony to the servant-spirit of our churches and pastors.”

Lang said Cobb, Paulding and Douglas Counties were the hardest hit areas, especially Austell, Ga.

“We also need to remember those who lost loved ones as a result of the flood. The death count is up to 19. It’s bizarre to have this kind of water without having a storm,” said Lang.

To get help from Southern Baptist disaster relief, flood victims should call a toll-free number, 800-460-6881. The call center at NAMB is being staffed between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. seven days a week. All flood recovery and “mud-out” work done by Southern Baptists is done by trained volunteers without charge to the homeowner.

Caller center personnel will collect the homeowner’s information and forward that to Southern Baptist assessment teams. Individuals requesting assistance must be the homeowner and primary resident of that home. NAMB’s call center can also handle calls from Hispanic flood victims in the greater Atlanta area.

Southern Baptists have established flood response operations in Austell, Lithia Springs, Mableton, Douglasville, Powder Springs, Toccoa, Summerville and Trion. 

With the support of the nine state conventions, Southern Baptist disaster relief operations in Georgia are being coordinated jointly by the Georgia Baptist Convention and NAMB. 

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