RALEIGH — Baptist disaster response teams in North Carolina headed to Oklahoma May 23 in the wake of the massive tornado there, while Virginia and District of Columbia teams remained on alert May 30.
The May 20 storm pulverized Moore, an Oklahoma City suburb, killing 24 people, destroying homes and businesses, severely damaging a hospital and two elementary schools, and injuring hundreds. The storm was ranked as an EF-5, the most powerful category for tornadoes, with winds exceeding 200 miles per hour.
North Carolina Baptist volunteers are in Moore, Okla., cleaning up after the massive tornado which devasted the city May 20. (Photo/N.C. Baptist Men and Women)
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Three North Carolina Baptist Men and Women teams with skid-steer loaders arrived in Moore May 24 to help survivors clean up debris, the group reported on its Facebook page. The North Carolinians joined dozens of other volunteers from around the country, including many coordinated by Texas Baptist Men and the Southern Baptist Conven-tion’s North American Mission Board. Both the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and American Baptist Churches USA have forwarded funds and donations.
So many volunteers are participating that it may not be necessary for Baptists in Virginia to field teams, said Dean Miller, disaster response coordinator for the Virginia Baptist Mission Board.
“The response to the tornados in Oklahoma has been overwhelming from the many state Baptist conventions that are much closer than Virginia,” Miller posted on his group’s Facebook page. “All of this is in addition to other volunteer organizations as well as unsolicited volunteers that simply show up. We will plan on assisting when the rebuild process begins.”
Miller added that funds “are still needed as those will be used to provide direct aid to those that were under/uninsured or as new, unique needs are identified.” He also said that material supplies and donated goods are unnecessary for now.
“[Collection] efforts will most likely be wasted unless there is a direct request and distribution plan in place,” he said. “When we become aware of direct needs we will certainly pass along the word.”
The D.C. Baptist Conven-tion’s emergency response team also remains on alert, said Ricky Creech, the convention’s executive director/minister who coordinates the team. The group’s chainsaw and debris removal units are available, he said, as are volunteers to serve as chaplains and assessors.
Robert Dilday ([email protected]) is managing editor of the Religious Herald.