Romar Beach Baptist Church in Orange Beach and Camp Baldwin in Elberta each sustained significant damage as Hurricane Sally made landfall in south Alabama in the predawn hours of Sept. 16.
Romar Beach Baptist Church suffered extensive damage, inside and out, according to pastor Chris Fowler in a Thursday morning (Sept. 17) Facebook post. Fowler said the church lost several light poles, along with its dumpster “feeder tube” and containment doors. Windows built to withstand 160+ mph winds were shattered, likely by flying debris, Fowler said, and floor tiles were pushed up by the winds.
The church’s boardwalk also was destroyed, but not everything fell, Fowler noted in his post: “Just something to make you smile — the cross right next to the boardwalk took the full force of estimated 125 mph winds too — but STILL STANDS!”
‘Direct hit’
In Elberta, Camp Baldwin took a direct hit from Sally, losing over 100 large trees and sustaining severe damage to its pier and zipline, along with water damage to some buildings.
Camp director Gil Johnson said a kitchen generator provided temporary power to run the freezer, cooler and well, enabling camp staff to take care of families, volunteers and neighbors during cleanup.
Johnson expressed his gratitude for the prayers of God’s people, noting that camp staff and families were blessed to come safely through the storm.
“[We] already have three volunteers from Extreme Ministries (Pell City) cutting and cleaning up our RV park and main campus area. Hopefully [we] will be able to host more volunteers to help here and also [in] our community around us, [which is] also in bad shape. If anyone is interested in volunteering with camp cleanup or wants to plan to bring a mission team to help communities around us, please give us a call at 251-987-5100 or leave a message on our Facebook page.”
The University of Mobile campus sustained minimal damage from Hurricane Sally. In a late Wednesday Facebook post, president Lonnie Burnett wrote:
“We are blessed that the University of Mobile campus experienced minimal damage resulting from Hurricane Sally. We have some trees down but none are blocking any roadways. The trees were not large, so removal will not be difficult and is, in fact, already underway. The cleanup of leaves and small debris will begin early tomorrow morning. Likewise, no building suffered any significant damage.”
The UM campus remained closed and offered online instruction through the weekend to facilitate cleanup while power was restored.
First hurricane since Ivan
Hurricane Sally made landfall near Gulf Shores as a Category 2 storm, the first hurricane to hit Alabama since Hurricane Ivan in 2004. The storm’s slow movement brought torrential rainfall, along with strong winds, to most of coastal Alabama, then trekked north toward central Alabama.
The storm slowed to Category 1 strength just after landfall. By 1:00 p.m. CDT Sept. 16, National Hurricane Center forecasters said Sally had weakened to a tropical storm, yet still with the potential for leaving “catastrophic and life-threatening flooding over portions of the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama.”
As Sally slowly made her way north-northeast, rainfall measured 4 inches per hour in parts of Alabama and Florida. Several areas were flooded as the rain continued to fall.
Wind brought down power lines and trees. By late afternoon Sept. 16, Baldwin County Emergency Management spokesperson Sherry-Lea Bloodworth Botop reported 90% of Baldwin county residents were without power.
More than 175,000 residents were without power according to a Wednesday evening Alabama Power tweet. By Thursday morning, Mobile outages were down to 129,000, with 27,000 without power in Central Alabama and 2,600 in Southeast Alabama.
In Elba, the Pea River reached 25.46 feet on Thursday morning and the National Weather Service predicted a crest as high as 41 feet by Friday.
Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief already at work
In a Wednesday afternoon email update, Mark Wakefield, disaster relief strategist for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, said Sally “drenched Mobile and Baldwin counties all day and strong winds affected both. She is now moving slowly across the state near the Florida line.”
Wakefield noted the following:
- Mobile County has widespread power outages but not total loss of power. Dauphin Island flooded. Damage extends all the way up to Citronelle.
- Baldwin County has widespread damage from downed trees, as well as sporadic flooding in low lying areas. Many are without power, and damage extends from Gulf Shores to Bay Minette and possibly beyond.
- In Elba, a city in Coffee County prone to flooding, a voluntary evacuation has begun.
Mobile and Baldwin Baptist Associations invited residents with storm damage to request assistance on their disaster relief team Facebook pages and late Wednesday afternoon, requests for help clearing downed trees were already coming in.
Wakefield said incident management sites are established in affected areas, with one set up currently at Mobile Baptist Association and another at First Baptist Church, Robertsdale.
“Volunteers have begun assessing and receiving requests and will soon enlist chainsaw teams” to begin work in those areas, Wakefield said, with other sites likely to be set up as response coordination sites.
“This is a developing situation,” Wakefield said. “The leadership will be constantly evaluating and adjusting the plan. I am grateful for all the encouragement and support that has been offered. Other states are standing by to assist us. We will ask for their help when appropriate.”
How to help
To donate to hurricane disaster relief efforts, click here. To find more information about requesting help from or serving with Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief, click here.
This story was updated on Sept. 17 to report on damage sustained by Alabama Baptist churches and facilities. TAB Media will continue to update this story as it develops.
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