6 | November 2024
Ohio Disaster Relief on the Ground After Hurricanes By John Heading, SCBO Disaster Relief state director
An Ohio DR chainsaw team removes a fallen 100-year-old tree in Live Oak, Florida, following Hurricane Helene.
Chainsaw Team - Tom Miller, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Logan, led a chainsaw team to Live Oak, Florida clearing massive 100-year-old trees downed by the hurricanes. The only way to clear those trees was to rent heavy equipment for $2500 per week. Mike and Michael Ben- edetti from Benedetti Construction are new to Ohio Di- saster Relief. They brought what equipment they had and OHDR rented whatever they needed. In Live Oak, teams worked to clear an old tree and learned from the homeowner that the ashes of fami- ly members were buried underneath the tree. To lose these old trees is sad, but the anxiety it caused in the family related to the ashes buried there will be some- thing they will struggle with for a long time. Flood Recovery Team - Josh Wright, Urbancrest Bap- tist Church, Lebanon, led a flood recovery team that served in Clearwater, Florida. Their flexibility was chal - lenged as soon as they arrived. Instead of sleeping in an air conditioning church they were assigned to sleep in a giant tent without air conditioning. Considering what the residents of Florida are experiencing, not having air conditioning seems small. The team got to work clean- ing up flood damage from the hurricanes. Chaplains - Chaplains are an important part of disaster relief. While other DR teams are working to cut down trees or clearing mud from a home, DR chaplains focus on the spiritual and emotional needs of the homeown- ers impacted by the disaster. Story continues on the next page...
Flexibility is important in Disaster Relief (DR) ministry. Disaster situations change rapidly, so DR teams must be flexible and willing to pivot on a moment’s notice. Since two catastrophic hurricanes, Helene and Milton, roared through the southeastern United States, South- ern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) teams have been on the ground in the impacted areas bringing help, hope, and healing. Ohio DR teams are among those SBDR teams respond- ing to the disaster. In mid-October, SBDR was manning 31 Disaster Relief sites in six states: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The process to deploy Ohio DR teams to hurricane-rav- aged areas began as soon as the storms moved out to sea and flexibility was a big part of the process. At first, Ohio DR teams were scheduled to deploy to Brevard, North Carolina. However, that site closed be- fore the teams arrived so they were reassigned to either Perry, Florida, or Hendersonville, North Carolina. One team was sent to Inverness, Florida, only to be redirected to Clearwater, Florida, as soon as they ar- rived. An Ohio team traveled to Perry, Florida, but was eventually redirected to Live Oak, Florida. Deployment changes like these are a regular part of DR ministry. Multiple Ohio DR teams deployed in October. Food Service Team - Jodi Calhoon, Cuyahoga Val- ley Church, Cleveland, led a feeding team to Valdosta, Georgia. The team partnered with Kentucky DR as they cooked and served roughly 6000 meals per day and saw 43 professions of faith.
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