JACKSON, Miss. (Special) – Mississippi Baptist Disaster Relief (MBDR) has deployed to Alabama in response to severe weather that raked the state in the early morning hours of Jan. 13.
The Mississippi teams departed for Eutaw, Ala., on Jan. 19 to assist Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief (ABDR) in cleanup operations after a tornado caused significant damage in the Eutaw area, reported Hubert Yates, disaster relief director for the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board.
Eutaw is about 36 miles southwest of Tuscaloosa, Ala. “ABDR is currently deployed in Prattville, Selma, Bibb County, Decatur, and several other locations in east central Alabama. The Eutaw area will be a MBDR operation,” he said.
The Eutaw area has suffered three damaging tornadoes since April of last year. “The community is weary of constant cleanup,” Yates said. “The damage is relatively light, comparatively speaking, with approximately 35 homes with moderate/significant damage and two that were totally destroyed from the most recent strong F2/low F3 tornado.”
MBDR volunteer teams working the Eutaw response include incident management, feeding, assessors, chaplains, and chainsaw. Eutaw Baptist Church will host the MBDR volunteers.
For general information about MBDR credentialing and volunteering, click here. MBDR is supported by gifts to the Mississippi Cooperative Program and private donations.
Tax-deductible gifts to assist MBDR are being accepted. At the present time, in-kind contributions such as clothing and furniture are not being accepted. “The need right now is for critical supplies to be purchased in bulk, such as food and cleaning materials. Monetary gifts will help accomplish that,” Yates said.
Monetary gifts may be made by check, or electronically by clicking here. Checks should be made payable to Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, with “Disaster Relief” designated on the memo line, and mailed to MBCB Business Office, P.O. Box 530, Jackson, MS 39205-0530.
