After Louisiana took two back-to-back beatings from hurricanes, Alabama Baptists volunteered to help clean up in a variety of ways. In the effort after Lilli, Alabama’s new disaster relief shower unit debuted.
“This was the inaugural run for our shower unit,” said Tommy Puckett, director of men’s ministries for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM). “It’s working great. We wish we’d had it earlier, but we’re thankful for it now.”
Puckett said the unit, which is stationed in Rayne, was only being used by the volunteers there, since most of the residents have electricity, water and gas. But at other locations where those services are still turned off, the public is able to use shower trailers operated by other agencies.
“This is the first operation that we will be using the showers to serve not only our people, but the government workers and the general public,” said Joel Phillips, off-site coordinator for the operation and a North American Mission Board volunteer mobilization associate.
The other shower units include two NAMB-owned trailers based at First Baptist Church of Abbeville, a NAMB unit and a Tennessee unit at the Public Works Center in Abbeville, a Georgia unit at Erath Middle School and a Texas unit in Kaplan.
Besides the seven shower units, three additional mobile kitchens and five chain saw crews have been mobilized to participate in the relief work.
Puckett said chain saw units from Calhoun, Baldwin and Marshall associations traveled to Abbeville to work with units under the direction of the Texas disaster relief command center at First Baptist Church of Abbeville. As of Oct. 9, the crews from Alabama and Arkansas, South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee and Florida had completed 37 jobs clearing trees from yards in Abbeville and the nearby towns of Kaplan and Erath. The area is just west of New Iberia and south of LaFayette.
Additional units from Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee and South Carolina are on standby status.
Serving as incident commander for the operation out of the Abbeville location is Mickey Caison, national disaster relief coordinator and manager of adult volunteer mobilization for the North American Mission Board.
“The size of the response is a little larger than I had anticipated because there are so many streets and houses damaged,” Caison said. “Of course it’s not as bad as if it had been a Category 4 hurricane, but that doesn’t mean a lot to a person who has a 3-foot-diameter oak tree through the middle of his house.”
Alabama Baptists also sent a mobile kitchen unit to Rayne. Other mobile kitchens responding include three Louisiana units that already were working in Kenner, Houma and Slidell. Additional units from Texas and Arkansas were opened in Alexandria and Abbeville. Including the meals served in Mississippi after Isidore, 150,000 meals had been served as of Oct. 9.Caison said the American Red Cross is distributing most of the food in neighborhoods that are without electricity and even water in many cases.
Puckett said residents were also able to eat at the unit stationed at First Baptist Church, Rayne. “This is a heavily Catholic area, and it’s hard to get into the people’s homes, so this is great exposure for the church.”
Also activated is a North Carolina laundry unit, a trailer containing several washers and dryers that will support disaster relief volunteers in Rayne.
As of Oct. 8, Puckett said the volunteers should be headed home the week of Oct. 13. “They told us to expect a 10-day to two-week operation,” he said.
Joel Phillips, off-site coordinator for the response based in Alpharetta, Ga., said he anticipates several more weeks of response.
“I suspect by the end of [this week] the cleanup numbers will probably be at this or higher,” he said. “and once the water gets out, we’ll probably be looking at mud-out.”
In mud-out operations, crews go into homes where floodwater has receded and clear ruined carpet, Sheetrock and other debris, then sanitize.
Financial contributions for the disaster relief response may be sent to the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions. Call 1-800-264-1225 for more information.
(BP, Erin Webster contributed)
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