Bennie Adams said the people in his area had never really gotten cleaned up from a tornado that came through in November 2022 when another one came down the same track Jan. 12.
It was Eutaw’s third tornado in nine months.
“I had no structural damage at my house, but my neighbor’s house did,” said Adams, deacon chairman at Eutaw Baptist Church. “We’re in a wooded area, and there are a lot of trees down too.”
‘The people are weary’
Hubert Yates, state director of disaster relief for the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, said he’s met people since they arrived late last week whose homes were damaged for the second time in three months. The most recent tornado, an EF2, was 600 yards wide and raked a path nearly 39 miles long.
“The people are weary; they’re tired,” Yates said, noting that even though the damage doesn’t appear to be as severe as Selma or some other areas, the people are fatigued from the back-to-back storms.
Experienced teams at work
To help them get things going, Yates brought a team of disaster relief volunteers from Mississippi that started work Jan. 20, removing trees and cleaning up yards. He estimates it will take no more than a week to finish the work. The team is using Eutaw Baptist as its base of operations.
“This particular storm took down some large trees, so we brought in some of our experienced volunteer teams from Mississippi that have skid steers and can handle the larger trees,” Yates said. “We’ve been well received by the mayor and the city.”
He said they’ve already had opportunities to share the gospel as well as pray with homeowners.
Large volunteer force statewide
Across the state, Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief teams are continuing to work in hard-hit areas also. Mark Wakefield, state disaster relief strategist, said he’s grateful for the strong volunteer network in Alabama and grateful for the great relationship Alabama Baptists have with Mississippi Baptist disaster relief.
“We have a lot of volunteers, and a lot of work is getting done,” Wakefield said. “It’s going very well, it’s just taking some time.”
For more information or to give to disaster relief efforts, visit sbdr.org.
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