2012 Hurricane Sandy

NEW YORK CITY (BP) -- Nearly 90 people have been confirmed dead in the United States in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and the number of people who remain unaccounted for is unknown, officials said Nov. 1.

NEW YORK CITY (BP) -- Nearly 90 people have been confirmed dead in the United States in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and the number of people who remain unaccounted for is unknown, officials said Nov. 1.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (BP) -- In an unprecedented move for Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, all large capacity mobile kitchens in the fleet east of the Rocky Mountains have been asked to mobilize in response to Hurricane Sandy. The goal is to begin preparing a minimum of 400,000 meals a day by Monday, Nov. 5. "As we worked through the planning and continued to receive reports about the need, the conviction came on me that Southern Baptists need to step out in faith and mobilize now," said North American Mission Board Disaster Relief executive director Fritz Wilson. "I contacted [NAMB] president Kevin Ezell and shared the conviction of our area command team and he agreed." On Thursday NAMB trustees authorized the entity to cover the travel expense for state conventions that needed the assistance in mobilizing their DR teams to the region. During the height of SBDR response to Hurricane Katrina, volunteers prepared 425,000 meals per day. On Thursday SBDR volunteers from Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina were serving in New York and New Jersey, along with volunteers from the affected states. SBDR volunteers from those states and the Baptist General Convention of Virginia, Maryland-Delaware, New England, Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia and West Virginia were preparing up to 150,000 meals and were working with chainsaw and recovery units. The New York Baptist convention's kitchen was on its way to Staten Island where volunteers will begin serving meals Friday. "Staten Island is a high priority," said NAMB DR response coordinator Eddie Blackmon, who is stationed at national American Red Cross headquarters in Washington, D.C.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (BP) -- Wind, flood, fire and snow have combined to displace thousands of residents in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and West Virginia. Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers are on their way to the hardest-hit areas in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, bringing help and hope in the midst of crisis. [QUOTE@left@180="We have probably not had a single-event response request of this level since Hurricane Katrina."
-- Fritz Wilson, DR exec dir]Southern Baptist church planter Wayne Burton in Jersey City, N.J., is among the millions living in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Burton and his wife Erin moved to the city several years ago to put down roots and begin planting a church. As the storm approached, the Burtons prepared their apartment before evacuating to a nearby hotel. Returning home early Tuesday, they were met with extensive flooding that had reached into their apartment and destroyed most of their belongings. "As Southern Baptist Disaster Relief we have a hope and a ministry" to come alongside the Burtons as they labor with Jersey City residents in the daunting recovery that lies ahead, Bruce Poss, DR coordinator for the North American Mission Board. Poss is the Southern Baptist liaison with the Federal Emergency Management Agency serving in Washington, D.C., for the response to Hurricane Sandy. "This is our time to do what God has commissioned us to do." SBDR units from across the country were heading toward staging areas in New York and New Jersey Wednesday and assessments and requests for assistance were being made. One of the largest requests, for as many as 100,000 meals per day, has come from New York City.

NEW YORK CITY (BP) -- The death toll from Hurricane Sandy had risen to at least 50 people Wednesday as 6 million electric customers remained without power in the Northeast, crippled by damaged infrastructures and hazardous floodwater. Amid the devastation, Southern Baptists rallied to help.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (BP) -- Wind, flood, fire and snow have combined to displace thousands of residents in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and West Virginia. Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers are on their way to the hardest-hit areas in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, bringing help and hope in the midst of crisis. [QUOTE@left@180="We have probably not had a single-event response request of this level since Hurricane Katrina."
-- Fritz Wilson, DR exec dir]Southern Baptist church planter Wayne Burton in Jersey City, N.J., is among the millions living in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Burton and his wife Erin moved to the city several years ago to put down roots and begin planting a church. As the storm approached, the Burtons prepared their apartment before evacuating to a nearby hotel. Returning home early Tuesday, they were met with extensive flooding that had reached into their apartment and destroyed most of their belongings. "As Southern Baptist Disaster Relief we have a hope and a ministry" to come alongside the Burtons as they labor with Jersey City residents in the daunting recovery that lies ahead, Bruce Poss, DR coordinator for the North American Mission Board. Poss is the Southern Baptist liaison with the Federal Emergency Management Agency serving in Washington, D.C., for the response to Hurricane Sandy. "This is our time to do what God has commissioned us to do." SBDR units from across the country were heading toward staging areas in New York and New Jersey Wednesday and assessments and requests for assistance were being made. One of the largest requests, for as many as 100,000 meals per day, has come from New York City.

NEW YORK CITY (BP) -- The death toll from Hurricane Sandy had risen to at least 50 people Wednesday as 6 million electric customers remained without power in the Northeast, crippled by damaged infrastructures and hazardous floodwater. Amid the devastation, Southern Baptists rallied to help.

[QUOTE@right@180="New York is an amazing opportunity to share the Gospel with others in this time of need."
-- Freeman Field]NEW YORK CITY (BP) -- Hurricane Sandy caused 39 U.S. deaths, record flooding, massive power outages and extensive devastation as it roared ashore Monday night near New York City.

SALISBURY, Md. (BP) -- Before Hurricane Sandy ever made landfall, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers were beginning the long effort to aid the East Coast by preparing meals for evacuees in Salisbury, Md. A feeding unit of the Baptist Convention of Maryland-Delaware was active Monday (Oct. 29) at James Bennett High School there. Maryland-Delaware DR director Ellen Udovich said the unit responded to the request from the American Red Cross to provide assistance to evacuees in advance of the storm. The SBDR volunteers already had served 300 meals on their first day of operation. And they were back at work Tuesday morning serving breakfast after the storm passed. Another Maryland-Delaware feeding unit was activated and preparing to serve meals at Middle River Baptist Church near Baltimore. They will join units activating from a dozen states deploying across the hard-hit Northeast. North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell told Baptist Press, "In addition to the devastation this storm is causing, the sheer size of it is going to make it very expensive in terms of relief and cleanup." Ezell voiced gratitude "for all of the Southern Baptist volunteers who make our disaster relief efforts possible. This is a time for every Southern Baptist to be praying and to also consider donating to our disaster relief fund." SBDR established an area command center for the response on Monday at the Pennsylvania-South Jersey Baptist convention mission house in Harrisburg, Pa. On site less than 30 minutes, area commander for the response, Mark Gauthier, reminded SBDR volunteers why they serve. "Our purpose is to meet the spiritual and physical needs of those impacted by disaster," said Gauthier, DR director for the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia state convention. SBDR area command is implementing the deployment of mobile field kitchens to northern and southern New Jersey, Gauthier reported. The current plan is for the kitchens to be operational by Thursday. Assessments are still being made for responses to other affected areas, Gauthier said.

SANTIAGO, Cuba (BP) -- Hurricane Sandy's torrential rains and 105 mph winds slammed eastern Cuba Oct. 25, killing 11 people, among them a couple from First Baptist Church in the hard-hit coastal city of Santiago.