WAYLAND, Iowa (BP)–Iowa Baptists’ disaster relief feeding unit was dispatched Feb. 28 to assist residents in southeast Iowa who had been without electricity since a Feb. 25 ice storm knocked out power across much of that part of the state.
The blizzard marked the first time the Iowa unit has been called out to a disaster inside the state since it was established three years ago; the Iowa unit has responded to disasters in other states, working alongside Baptists from other states after hurricanes in Florida and the Gulf Coast in recent years.
The group operated an emergency meal site at the WACO High School in Wayland until power was returned to the community on March 1. Additionally some meals were delivered to elderly residents in rural areas surrounding Wayland.
The unit shut down its operations March 1 once power was restored in many of the communities — and because of an impending blizzard heading across Iowa with high winds and blowing snow, closing many of the state’s roads. The unit is currently being stored in Wayland, pending possible further deployment once the blizzard conditions abate.
Approximately 100 meals were served over the two-day period by the Iowa disaster relief unit in conjunction with local emergency feeding efforts that were based at a nursing home in Winfield and a fire station in nearby Olds.
Disaster relief volunteers responded from First Baptist Church in Winterset; First Baptist Church in Bettendorf; Solid Rock Baptist Church in Wapello; and Our Church in Wayland.
The towns of Wayland, Sweedsburg, Olds and Winfield (all in Henry and Des Moines counties) were most impacted by the ice storm and power outages.
The Burlington (Iowa) Hawkeye newspaper reported that at the height of the outage approximately 8,000 homes were without power in a 10–county area, spanning from southeastern Iowa to south-central Iowa.
Ty Berry, disaster relief coordinator for the Baptist Convention of Iowa, said the school and local authorities were extremely pleased to learn of Southern Baptist disaster relief workers.
“They said they would be welcome back to assist in the future. A number of opportunities for ministry were uncovered,” Berry said.
The convention is working on a plan to deploy a disaster relief chainsaw unit to help residents with the many downed trees in various communities.
Disaster relief chaplain Mike Carlson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Winterset, said, “There were not a lot of opportunities for chaplain ministry on this call-out due to the limited number of people involved in the effort. Power was starting to come back on soon after we arrived there.”
Carlson added, “It was a learning time for Iowa unit.”
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Richard Nations is publication editor for the Baptist Convention of Iowa.
