Southern Baptists prepare relief effort ahead of Florence

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief said Wednesday it is working with other national organizations in a coordinated disaster relief effort ahead of Hurricane Florence. The group, which is part of the denomination’s North American Mission Board (NAMB), has committed 22 mobile field kitchens to the region, with a per day capacity of 315,000 meals. The organization has also compiled and sent “pastor packs” for local pastors to the state conventions in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The resource packs, designed for pastors to use in especially small, rural areas that may lose electricity, include a generator, a chain saw, a water filter, and other supplies.

“This is a collaborative effort,” said Sam Porter, NAMB’s national director for disaster relief, noting his team has been cooperating with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Salvation Army and American Red Cross, and other state emergency teams. “We’re all walking in lock-step, especially given all that we experienced last year,” he said of previous responses to hurricanes. “This is potentially as destructive as anything we saw with Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, or Maria.”

Meanwhile, the leading edge of Hurricane Florence reached the North Carolina coastline Thursday afternoon. The Category 2 storm with its 105 mph winds is expected to make landfall near the North Carolina–South Carolina border early Friday, bringing a possible storm surge of up to 13 feet along the Carolina coast and more than 3 feet of rain, which could result in severe inland flooding.