PENSACOLA, Fla. (BP) – As Hurricane Sally’s deluge flooded Alabama and the Florida Panhandle Wednesday (Sept. 16), Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) readied its response. Volunteers in Louisiana, meanwhile, hit milestones as they served survivors of August’s Hurricane Laura, and Southern Baptists continue serving across the nation.

Members of Oklahoma Baptists’ state convention board of directors gathered Tuesday (Sept. 15) at the Baptist Building in Oklahoma City, to meet, pray, hear ministry and financial reports, as well as finalize plans for the upcoming annual meeting in November. Two years after Hurricane Florence struck North Carolina with devastating force, North Carolina Baptists on Mission dedicated a new ministry hub near Rose Hill, N.C.

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) – Hurricane Sally lumbered ashore near the Florida-Alabama line Wednesday with 105-mph winds and rain measured in feet, not inches, swamping homes and trapping people in high water as it pushed inland for what could be a slow and disastrous drenching across the Deep South.

LAKE CHARLES, La. (BP) – When a hurricane leaves town, the ensuing days evoke whirlwinds of activity for Southern Baptist Disaster Relief. Trinity Baptist Church in Lake Charles is a hub of such ministry, reaching into the community with cleanup efforts, 20,000 meals a day, tons of food and other life necessities, and sharing the Gospel.

SPRINGFIELD, Ore. (BP) – Len Arney has seen ash before, and he offers a little perspective.

CLOVIS, Calif. – When Pastor Shawn Beaty and his congregation began helping evacuees of the Creek Fire near Fresno, he had no idea the ministry would “grow and spin bigger” than he could have ever imagined, serving as many as 2,000 families in one week.

OAKHURST, Calif. (BP) – The smoke surrounding Greg Kilgore's house is so thick he cannot even see the surrounding hills.

DRY CREEK, La. (BP) – The winds were still howling as Hurricane Laura blew through Dry Creek Baptist Camp Thursday morning Aug. 27, when camp director Todd Burnaman fielded a welcomed phone call from the pastor of Horeb Baptist Church in Gretna, La., asking how he and his people could lend assistance.

Hurricane Laura’s 140-mph, Category 4 winds considered nothing sacred, including houses of worship. ppi Baptist Disaster Relief (MBDR) teams were in the first wave of a large response of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief teams rolling into Louisiana after Hurricane Laura raked the state Aug. 27.

Work has begun for 80-plus Oklahoma and Kentucky Baptist volunteers in Louisiana in the wake of Hurricane Laura.