I had relaxed when the Houston weather feeds confidently claimed that Hurricane Isaias would not impact Texas. However, on Thursday October 8th, my Texans on Mission Disaster Relief Chainsaw team leader, Marcel, put us on alert. I did not think much of it until the reports of a Category 2 hurricane making landfall near Pensacola on Friday evening, and on Saturday, the call to deploy came.
On Tuesday 13th, our team of fifteen headed out from Kingsland Baptist Church in Katy. This was only my second deployment, and I expected that being in the disaster zone less than a week after the hurricane was going to be quite different. The 10-hour journey let me reflect as I read about several fatalities and that there was lots of damage. The report of over 100,000 homes without power got my attention!
Hillcrest Baptist Church had turned into a disaster response command center and it was buzzing when we arrived with teams from lots of different agencies. There were about 200 volunteers that the feeding team had to satisfy, as well as providing meals for the National Guard and local residents.
As well as the Salvation Army, Florida Baptists Disaster Relief, and the National Guard, I saw other teams from Texas, Athens FL, and South Carolina.
We took over the church’s room L109 as our dormitory, taping trash bags over windows to stop the light, and running lots of extension cords from the two plugs that the room had. It led to a surprisingly good first night’s sleep!
After a fine breakfast, there were the not unexpected first-day delays, but we were soon heading south. Our area of work was in Gulf Breeze, a peninsula that was very exposed, and had borne the brunt of the storm.
As we navigated streets made narrow by piles of debris, limiting parking opportunities, we were excited when our first house had an empty lot next door. Our excitement was short lived when the chainsaw trailer’s back axel got caught on the discarded remains of a chain link fence. Fortunately, when you have a skid steer, you can lift up the trailer and remove the entanglement!
The house we served had not been hit by a tree, but the backyard has several large downed trees, made into an impenetrable jungle by thick vines throughout.
Our team had Leslie as our Chaplain. In this role, Leslie was able to spend more time speaking with the homeowners, neighbors, and even passersby. She could check on physical and spiritual needs. She discovered that a Russian couple over the road were without power and were struggling to remove trees that would allow the electrical work to continue. Our team was able to clear it in about twenty minutes.
Team members back row: Robert, Marcel, Dyson, Leslie, Dave, Charlie, Greg, and Jack.
Front row; Peter, Todd, Old Steve, Hammer, Derek, and Sheri.
These homeowners, who had three young boys, had barely moved into the house. With their three boys, they were active members of the church where we were staying, and had been renovating the house for the last six months while staying with a parent. They evacuated to a hotel in Pensacola to ride out the storm. With the power back on, they moved into their home, and it was heartwarming that we were able to help them. Emotions ran high when we were saying farewell.
With the first work order completed at about 2pm, we had time to check out the next one. The street was really crowded with debris and other vehicles. The house had a tree on the top of it. The homeowner’s daughter was getting married the coming Saturday! We started on the work and look forward to finishing it tomorrow.
Reflection
Disasters bring some odd paradoxes. The chainsaw team members enjoy the work, the service, and the opportunity to share Jesus, yet cannot hope for disasters or be joyful when they arrive! Disasters are weirdly choosy in who they impact. While we were spending a whole day clearing a yard that had been quoted about $10k to clear by professionals, their nextdoor neighbor was cleaning their pristine pool in their barely damaged yard. The process that Southern Baptist Disaster Relief follows enables God to take us to houses and homeowners and follow Jesus’s teaching of serving others.
Before this deployment, I was questioning how good it would be. My previous deployment was so impactful that I was worried that this one wouldn’t come even close. I’ve often read social media posts about teams coming from various states to help after a disaster. Being personally involved in a disaster response is something I’ve yearned for. It’s looking like this is going to be another good one!
