After two weeks of Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief teams working in different parts of the state, the effort is starting to taper off, said Mark Wakefield, state disaster relief strategist.
“It looks as if we will finish up in Selma this week,” he said.
Disaster relief teams have been on the ground in the city since it was hit hard by a high-end EF2 tornado Jan. 12. One of the biggest obstacles there was the size of the old trees in downtown Selma that required extra time to clear.
Ten decisions for Christ
Teams have been staying at the local Elkdale Baptist Church as their base of operations.
“The goal is for the church to have their facility back at least almost in total by Sunday,” Wakefield said.
He noted that 10 people in Selma had made decisions to follow Christ during conversations with disaster relief volunteers. Lee Tate, associational mission strategist for West Central Baptist Association, along with church members in the area have been following up with them, Wakefield said.
Down to a ‘trickle’ of work
In Coosa and Tallapoosa counties, work has wrapped up except for a laundry unit still based at a community assistance center set up at an empty church building following the storms, he said.
In Autauga County — which was hit hard by a long-track EF3 tornado that killed seven people — cleanup assistance requests are only “trickling in” now, Wakefield said.
A Mississippi Baptist disaster relief team has also wrapped up its work clearing trees in Eutaw.
“It’s been a really good response,” Wakefield said.
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