As Hurricane Milton, a Category 3 storm, made landfall just after 8 p.m. Oct. 9 near Siesta Key, Florida Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers set up a command center at Sarasota’s Colonial Oaks Baptist Church, which serves as headquarters for DR leaders assessing damage and prioritizing crisis response, including mass feeding, clean-up and recovery and spiritual care and witness.
The command center became operational Oct. 11, and meals start today (Oct. 12), in coordination with The Salvation Army. Clean-up and recovery teams are slated to begin work Oct. 13.
Milton is the third hurricane to hit Florida this year. Category 1 Hurricane Debby struck Florida’s Big Bend region Aug. 5, and Category 4 Hurricane Helene made landfall in the same region Sept. 26. Hurricane Helene left behind immense destruction and devastation, with many Florida Baptist churches not being spared Helene’s fury.
Before making landfall, Hurricane Milton spawned multiple tornadoes over a wide swath of Florida, resulting in significant destruction and devastation and accounting for several fatalities.
Then, during and after landfall, Milton created intense damaging winds of up to 120 mph, devastating storm surge and torrential downpours of rain. An estimated 3 million Floridians have been left without power. The hurricane moved quickly across Central Florida and exited as it passed over Florida’s east coast and into the ocean.
Simultaneous relief
As Disaster Relief volunteers are making their way to areas hit hard by Hurricane Milton, many other volunteers — including Alabama Baptists — are continuing to respond actively to immense needs that Hurricane Helene left in its wake. In its Hurricane Helene response, Florida Baptist DR efforts began Sept. 27 and will continue as long as needs dictate.
David Coggins, Florida Baptist DR director, said this is the first time in 20 years for DR leaders and volunteers to manage simultaneous hurricane response for back-to-back hurricanes striking the Sunshine State. In 2004, Florida was battered by four hurricanes — Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne — in six weeks, with billions of dollars in damage and lives lost.
In this simultaneous response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton, Colonial Oaks Baptist DR leaders are providing administrative support in coordinating relief efforts for both storms. Such simultaneous response, “is a stretch,” said Coggins. “It is challenging us.”
Disaster Relief is, and always has been, a team effort, Coggins said. He expressed thankfulness and appreciation for disaster relief volunteers who are “resilient,” as they “respond and continue to respond.” New volunteers also have “stepped up,” have passed background checks and are joining relief efforts, “grateful to have the opportunity to serve,” he said.
Coggins also voiced gratefulness for Florida Baptist churches and associations that are responding in their communities as local residents often encounter overwhelming need and heartache.
Among numerous churches serving their communities, teams at Calvary Church in Clearwater are responding to needs in Milton’s aftermath, while teams at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Inverness will continue to respond to needs in Helene’s aftermath. Several churches on Florida’s east coast also are already serving in their communities as needs are discovered.
Coordinated response
In addition to its partnership with The Salvation Army, Florida Baptist DR is working to coordinate its response to Hurricane Milton with partners from the Florida Department of Emergency Management, Southern Baptists’ Send Relief, American Red Cross and first responders. Send Relief has staged a tractor-trailer with more than 20,000 meals, bottled water, rolled roofing, water and generators in Alpharetta, Georgia, which is slated to deploy soon to the Florida region battered by Hurricane Milton.
Disaster Relief teams from other Baptist state conventions, including New Mexico, Arizona, California and the Northwest, have joined relief efforts, working out of Westwood Baptist Church in Live Oak. Disaster relief teams from other Baptist state conventions, including Kentucky and Georgia, are slated to join in Hurricane Milton hurricane relief response.
And other state conventions that have DR volunteers spread out across the Southeast helping with Hurricane Helene cleanup — such as Alabama — are assisting Florida with financial gifts toward the DR efforts.
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