United Methodists offer relief after Helene

Key Points:

• Hurricane Helene cut a path of destruction, leaving at least 179 people dead and ravaging homes and infrastructure across the southeastern U.S.
• In western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, United Methodist efforts were mostly limited to getting supplies to people, including some who were cut off because of roads being destroyed.
• The United Methodist Committee on Relief is working with all affected conferences as communities begin to assess their needs. So far, grants have been awarded to the North and South Georgia, Western North Carolina and Holston conferences.  

United Methodists across the southeastern U.S. are doing their best to raise morale and get organized after many communities have been devastated by flooding from Hurricane Helene.

Flip Butler, a member of Boone United Methodist Church in Boone, North Carolina, is spending his time cutting wood, passing out candy and just trying to do anything he can think of to help.

“My gift is the gift of gab,” he said. “I make people laugh in the worst situations sometimes, and that’s what I’ve been doing all day (on Oct. 1), going around … and just sitting down and talking.”

Historic rainfall, flooding, power outages and 140 mph winds plagued the Southeast, with the mountains of western North Carolina being particularly hard hit. According to The Associated Press, at least 179 people over six states were killed as a result of the storm, which made landfall in the Big Bend area of the Florida Gulf Coast as a Category 4 storm on Sept. 26.

President Biden has promised resources including food, water, communications and lifesaving equipment.

Bishop Ken Carter, who leads the Western North Carolina Conference, said it’s estimated that more than half of the 44 counties in the annual conference have been affected.

“We want you to know that we see you, we are praying for you, and you will not be in this alone. Your well-being and recovery is the mission,” he said in a message on Facebook.

The conference’s Council on Finance and Administration and Board of Pensions and Health Benefits have voted to contribute $1 million each toward the relief and recovery of churches and communities. Local churches also are being asked to receive a special offering on Oct. 6 for relief efforts.  

“It’s pretty devastating,” said Brian Mateer, director of missional engagement for the Western North Carolina Conference, who took on the additional post of disaster response coordinator in 2021. “What’s complicating matters is there’s no access in and out of some of these places, no roads.”

Mateer said the National Guard was dropping supplies via air, and volunteers are using motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles where they can.

“There’s even a pack of mules helping people hike in supplies in one area,” he said.

“Our focus really right now is getting just the basic necessities to people, and focusing on some cleaning as we can. But it’s more about the food, water, diapers, formula — that sort of thing is where we are right now.”

The flooding was receding but not completely gone, he added.

“It’s just mud — I mean, just feet of mud.”

Mateer stressed that volunteers are not yet needed, but that will probably change next week.

“We’ve got our assessors and we’re identifying churches that can house teams and places where they can access their needs so they don’t become part of the problem,” he said. “So yeah, we’re moving toward receiving (volunteer) teams next week.”

Mateer helped with cleanup with a youth group after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

“With Katrina, everything was impacted,” he said. “Here, it’s just pockets of impact. You can go to an area that looks normal, and then you go over the hillside or the mountainside, and it’s completely devastated.”

Bishop Carter said Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center is housing search and rescue personnel who’ve come from all over the U.S. to help.

“The calling of Lake Junaluska is to be a place of Christian hospitality for the renewal of mind, body and spirit. That is happening in a profound way, not only for these men and women but also for the vulnerable and traumatized residents of the mountains they are helping,” Carter said in a Facebook post.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief reports that it is offering consultation and coordinative support to all affected conferences as communities begin to assess their needs. So far, grants have been awarded to the North and South Georgia, Western North Carolina and Holston conferences.  

“The devastation from Helene is heartbreaking, but it is in times like these that the church is called to embody hope,” said Roland Fernandes, top executive of UMCOR and the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. “Emergency response teams are gearing up to work with those affected, to offer immediate relief and plan for long-term recovery.”

United Methodists in the Holston Conference, which encompasses eastern Tennessee and parts of Georgia and Virginia, have been busy assembling and distributing cleaning kits and raising money for relief efforts.

Three days after a conference flood relief fund was set up to help survivors in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, more than $36,000 has been received through the online giving link alone, reports Annette Spence, who has been providing live updates from the Holston Conference. Additional funds are promised from local churches and United Methodist annual conferences, according to the Rev. Mike Sluder, Holston connectional ministries director. Neighboring conferences also are sharing cleaning kits.

The North and South Georgia conferences and UMCOR have deployed a solar microgrid trailer to the Valdosta area, where it is powering lights, a well for water, and refrigeration at a church camp just north of the area. The solar power is allowing that location to serve as basecamp for trained UMCOR Early Response Teams from Georgia. It serves as a mobile solar power station to provide clean, quiet and portable power.

Earlier this week, the North Georgia Conference made a delivery of water, tarps and portable phone chargers to Wesley United Methodist Church in Evans, Georgia. Wesley members are deploying the supplies to the communities where the needs are greatest, the conference reports.

Bishop Robin Dease, the episcopal leader of the Georgia area, expressed her concern and urged people to donate to UMCOR’s U.S. Disaster Response.

“On behalf of the South Georgia and North Georgia Conferences, we send our earnest prayers to all those persons and communities affected by Hurricane Helene,” she said.

Florida Conference Bishop Tom Berlin said in a video message that approximately 50 churches in the conference have been affected in some way.

He shared a video from his recent visit to Cedar Key United Methodist Church in Cedar Key, Florida, which was hit by Helene’s storm surge. The church just opened in April after rebuilding from Hurricane Idalia last year. “The congregation here wants to enjoy life together, but this storm damage is going to impact them again,” he said. “People’s lives have really been impacted.”

He said the conference is working to provide relief and encouraged United Methodists to consider helping by volunteering or offering financial support.  

Back in North Carolina, Butler’s home wasn’t impacted much by the storm, he said.

“We just had a little bit of gravel in our driveway wash away,” he said. “Some of these people, they go home and they have nothing.”

Butler said that at one point he came across a group of children, so he had the driver pull their truck to the curb and leapt out.

“What I did, I just jumped out and said, ‘OK, guys, Duck, Duck, Goose, let’s go!’”

It may have looked odd for children to be playing a game in midst of the devastation, “but when I left, the kids were smiling,” Butler said.

“We probably made a difference. The kids were laughing.”

As recovery efforts continue, Fernandes offered prayers for the work ahead.

“Through the hands and feet of dedicated volunteers and the support of the United Methodist connection, we will walk with the people affected by Helene on the path toward healing and restoration, while at the same time acknowledging the tremendous loss,” he said.

“We pray for strength and wisdom for all those responding to this disaster and trust in God’s grace to guide us forward.”

Patterson is a UM News reporter in Nashville, Tennessee. Annette Spence of the Holston Conference, Sybil Davidson of the North Georgia Conference and Kelly Roberson of the South Georgia Conference contributed. Contact them at 615-742-5470 or newsdesk@umnews.org. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free UM News Digests.