From the South Carolina Baptist Convention website:
On this anniversary week of the 2015 flood, our state is preparing for impact from Hurricane Matthew. Storm surge will be significant, and is the most dangerous aspect of a hurricane’s effects on land. In addition, the strong winds will bring widespread power outages.
Churches are urged to minister in their communities as they are able. There are opportunities virtually everywhere in the state, with evacuees in shelters and hotels.
The Lexington Baptist Association, through prior arrangements with their county Emergency Management office, has arranged for churches to provide ministry in each of the three shelters open in their area. The Columbia Metro Baptist Association has arranged for a church to serve as a “warehouse site” for donations and distributions.
A Disaster Operations Center (DOC) has been set up at the SC Baptist Convention office to coordinate the South Carolina Baptist Disaster Relief (SCB DR) response to this disaster.
Current plans are for the Upstate feeding unit to provide meals for a special medical needs shelter in Spartanburg. The American Red Cross has prior short-term arrangements in place for meals to be provided at other shelters for the first few days, so no other SCB DR feeding units are currently activated.
After the storm, we anticipate the need for virtually all other types of units. Therefore, all SCB DR volunteers are being placed on ALERT status for a response to this disaster. Alert status means your unit WILL be needed, so make efforts to clear your schedule, contact your Unit Leader about your availability, and be ready to deploy. If the storm does not cause significant damage in our state, our units will likely be needed to assist Florida.
People in potentially vulnerable areas should review personal safety plans, become familiar with local evacuation zones in coastal counties and locate the nearest hurricane evacuation routes. This information is detailed in the 2016 S.C. Hurricane Guide, currently available at all Walgreen’s stores statewide, at all rest areas along interstates and for download at scemd.org.
We will continue to monitor Hurricane Matthew in cooperation with the state’s EMD and partnering response organizations such as The Salvation Army and American Red Cross. Updates on SCBDR activities will be posted here and/or on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/scdisasterrelief.
To contribute funds toward Disaster Relief efforts, please click HERE.