Southern Baptist Disaster Relief gears up for next task as Hurricane Wilma approaches
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--First, there was Katrina. Then Rita. Now, North America’s third-largest disaster relief network is gearing up for yet another major hurricane, Wilma, expected to hit the western tip of South Florida no later than Tuesday, Oct. 25.
“Hurricane Wilma is unpredictable at this point,” said Mickey Caison, manager of the North American Mission Board’s disaster operations center, which has been operating around the clock since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in late August. “Weather models show Wilma could hit as early as Monday or maybe not until Tuesday morning.”
Caison emphasized that although Wilma is slated to strike the west coast of South Florida, the lower east coast of Florida will feel most of Wilma’s wrath because “the back side of the hurricane always does the most damage.”
In addition to the new damage Wilma is sure to inflict, Caison said, many South Florida residents still have not even finished repairs caused by the hurricanes that hit the area during the fall of 2004.
“There are still a lot of blue tarps on the roofs in South Florida because of last year’s hurricanes,” Caison said.
Caison and his NAMB disaster staff will hold a conference call this weekend with leadership from The Red Cross, The Salvation Army and the Florida Baptist Convention to decide where and when to begin staging the mobilization of Southern Baptist disaster relief units for Wilma.
“The staging area will probably be up in the Jacksonville or northwest Florida panhandle areas,” he said. “We’ll probably redeploy 20 or so of the relief units now in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. We’ll put other states on alert that we may need their units as well.”
Since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast eight weeks ago, NAMB’s disaster operations center has directed the work of more than 7,000 volunteers representing 41 state Baptist conventions.
According to NAMB estimates, the work of these 7,000 volunteers in the aftermath of Katrina and Rita translates into 104,000 “volunteer work days” valued at more than $14 million.
Through the deployment of 360 disaster relief units -- half of the Southern Baptists’ fleet of 600 -- these volunteers have prepared 8.6 million meals for hurricane victims and workers; completed more than 12,000 cleanup jobs; cared for 7,300 children; and provided almost 60,000 showers for victims and workers along the hard-hit Gulf Coast.
Southern Baptists run the third-largest disaster relief operation in the country, behind the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army, with more than 30,000 trained volunteers on stand-by for local, state and national emergencies.
With the official hurricane season continuing until the end of November and dangerous new hurricanes like Wilma on the way, monetary contributions to Southern Baptist relief efforts are still welcomed, Caison said.
Contributions for disaster relief may be sent to state conventions, associations or churches responding to the effort or to NAMB. Donations to Southern Baptist Disaster Relief may be made online, www.NAMB.net/disasterrelief, or by calling 1-888-571-5895. Contributions also can be mailed to the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, North American Mission Board, Box 116543, Atlanta, GA 30368-6543.
A webcast briefing about Southern Baptist Disaster Relief efforts is available at www.namb.net. Disaster relief information is posted regularly at www.NAMB.net/dr.
