Johnnie Wilson just didn’t know what to do.
He didn’t know how he was going to go about getting those waterlogged walls dried out. Or repaired. Or torn down and rebuilt.
And he didn’t know where the money was going to come from.
But then Alabama Baptist mud-out teams rolled in.
“I’m so glad to see those guys,” he said. “I’m overjoyed with having them here.”
Wilson is one of thousands of Atlanta-area residents whose homes were devastated when about 20 inches of rain was dumped on parts of north Georgia Sept. 21–23. Since then, Alabama Baptist disaster relief teams have been assessing needs and beginning to clean up the mess.
“It means the world to me because I didn’t know what I was going to do before they came,” Wilson said. “I know the Lord had to send y’all.”
Ruby C. Samples, another Atlanta resident, agreed.
“I just thank God for sending you all,” she said. “When we heard we could apply to get this help, we immediately applied because we really wouldn’t be able to afford to have the work done that these Christian people are doing, and we just thank you so much. Words can’t express how much we really appreciate it.”
At press time, mud-out teams from Colbert-Lauderdale, Limestone, Mud Creek, Bessemer and Sand Mountain Baptist associations were gutting water-damaged homes in the flooded areas, most of which are “typically not flood zones,” according to Mel Johnson, disaster relief strategist for Alabama Baptists.
“When you have 20 inches of rain, the water has to go some place, so the low-lying areas were hit hard,” Johnson said.
“In one place, the water in nothing more than a drainage ditch rose 20 feet, wiping out homes.”
Teams are especially reaching out to homeowners who don’t have insurance, he noted. And through helping meet flood victims’ physical needs, the teams have been able to minister to their spiritual needs.
“We have been able to pray with some folks,” Johnson said, adding that Alabama Baptist volunteers “want to offer hope in a situation of hopelessness.”
Southern Baptist teams from other states including Georgia, Kentucky, Texas, South Carolina, Nebraska, Tennessee and Virginia are also on the ground there doing relief work. At press time, more than 300 volunteers, staffing some 50 Southern Baptist disaster relief crews, were in Georgia preparing meals for victims and volunteers, cleaning out muddy homes and removing debris.
With Baptist teams working daily since Sept. 24, more than 70 mud-out jobs already have been completed from some 200 work requests by flood victims.
In addition to feeding and recovery units, Baptists also are providing victims and volunteers with units for hot showers and laundry. Chaplains are available for counseling.
Even more volunteers from Alabama may go to work in Georgia if assessment teams deem that they are needed, Johnson said.
To donate to the relief efforts, make checks payable to the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) and send to the SBOM at P.O. Box 11870, Montgomery, AL 36111-0870.
Gifts should be designated for “Georgia Flooding Relief.”
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