DALLAS (ABP) — With Hurricane Katrina fresh on their minds, Baptist General Convention of Texas leaders are preparing relief resources to serve as quickly as possible when Hurricane Rita strikes along the Gulf Coast.
BGCT staff members are lining up volunteers and supplies to provide almost immediate assistance in the affected areas. The convention is enlisting medical personnel, counselors, chaplains and pastors trained to handle crises to help possible victims of Rita.
“Texas Baptists have responded generously and sacrificially to the Katrina hurricane disaster, and we are confident they want to be prepared to meet any needs,” said E.B. Brooks, coordinator of the BGCT's disaster response efforts.
Texas Baptist Men, already serving in Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana, is identifying disaster-relief teams that will be able to serve as quickly as possible after the storm. Relief teams from Baptist conventions in New York, Maryland/Delaware, Alabama, Florida, California, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio are scheduled to come to Texas. Two Texas teams already are on the move to position themselves more strategically to help following the storm.
“We're totally ready,” said Leo Smith, Texas Baptist Men executive director. “We've got the meals onboard already. We've got our units ready to be staged. We're just waiting for the area where it goes to see where to set up.”
Texas Baptist institutions have indicated they are ready to respond in any way possible following the hurricane.
Hurricane Rita is currently in the Gulf of Mexico with sustained winds of 150 mph. The storm's projected path has it making land along the eastern Texas Gulf Coast as early as Friday night.