“O Lord, our times are in your hand. In the midst of uncertainty lead us by your never-failing grace as we seek to be agents of healing and hope” We love you Lord. Our hope is in You. In the Mighty and loving name of Jesus, Amen.
Baptist Press
By Eric Verduzco, Jeffrery Collins, posted October 1, 2024 in Disaster Relief
SWANNANOA, N.C. (AP) — Cadaver dogs and search crews trudged through knee-deep muck and debris on Tuesday looking in the mountains of western North Carolina for victims of Hurricane Helene, days after the storm carved a deadly and destructive path through the Southeast.
With Helene’s death toll passing 150, searchers fanned out across the region, using helicopters to get past washed-out bridges and hiking through wilderness to reach isolated homes.
Many who lived through what was one of the deadliest storms in U.S. history were left without electricity or any way to reach out for help. Some cooked food on charcoal grills or hiked to high ground in the hopes of finding a signal to call loved ones.
“Communities were wiped off the map,” North Carolina’s governor, Roy Cooper, said at a news conference Tuesday.
The devastation was especially bad in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where at least 50 people died in and around Asheville.
Just outside the city, in the small community of Swannanoa, receding floodwaters revealed cars stacked on top of others and trailer homes that had floated away during the storm.
Roads were caked with mud and debris and pockmarked by sinkholes.
Exhausted emergency crews worked around the clock to clear roads, restore power and phone service, and reach those still stranded by the storm, which killed at least 152 people in six states. Nearly half of the deaths were in North Carolina, while dozens of others were in South Carolina and Georgia. More Here
Gov. Cooper, Sen. Tillis encourage NC Baptist volunteers during visits to western NC
Florida Baptists, others answering the call to serve after Helene
For one North Carolina family, a raging torrent becomes a death trap