Teams of Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers headed west to Iowa last week to assist residents dealing with damage caused by record flooding. Severe storms in late June dropped torrential rains on Iowa, causing major flooding as dams failed and rivers overflowed their banks. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds estimates that more than 5,000 homes were damaged by the storms, including at least 2,000 that are likely irreparable.
GBDR volunteers deployed to Spencer, Iowa, where waters from the Little Sioux River flooded homes. GBDR director Dwain Carter said three teams of eight volunteers each will be in Iowa through late July, working alongside Southern Baptist DR teams from Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska.
Carter described one home where the basement, filled with personal property, was completely filled with water, and flooding reached 6 inches inside the home itself. Already, he said, mold was visible growing up the walls of the home.
In addition, at the request of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, GBDR is deploying chainsaw teams to Texas to assist clean-up efforts in the wake of Hurricane Beryl. Beryl made landfall on July 8 as a category 1 storm, knocking out power to nearly 3 million people in Texas. The storm's heavy rain and winds uprooted trees and damaged homes and businesses along the Texas Coast and parts of Southeast Texas.
More than 30 volunteers from churches across Georgia will be working on chainsaw teams in Jasper and Spring, Texas, Carter said.
"GBDR and SBDR volunteers are very committed, dedicated and willing to get hot and dirty to show the love of Jesus," Carter said. He asked all Georgians to pray for opportunities to share the love of Jesus as they meet the needs of people dealing with life-changing disasters.
Those willing to assist in future Disaster Relief efforts can sign up for training or make a financial donation.
