• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Virginia Baptist Disaster Response

Providing support to survivors after disaster.

  • Volunteer
  • Our Mission
  • Stories & Impact
  • Flood Buckets
  • Give

Floods Prompt Disaster Teams to Respond

loading...

July 16, 2015 by bgavdr | Leave a Comment

Posted: 7/16/15 at 2:40pm.

Wet weather has plagued much of the country this spring and summer, and disaster relief teams have been ready to lend a hand.

In June, with significant flooding in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas, a team of Virginia Baptists served for a week in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, in partnership with the Arkansas Baptist State Convention and Southern Baptist Disaster Relief.

A team of seven Virginia Baptists cleaned out flooded homes, removing damaged interiors, cleaning up personal items, and getting the homeowners to a place where they could begin the rebuilding process. Team members came together from Baptist General Association of Virginia (BGAV) churches across Virginia, including Nickelsville, Roanoke, New Kent, Saluda, Newport News and Virginia Beach.

pine bluff arkansas virginia disaster team
The Virginia team helped a homeowner clean up personal items while working at the home.

Over five work days, the team cleaned 12 homes in the Pine Bluff area.

Back home in Pocahontas, Va., the town suffered significant flooding in early July. Local church leaders contacted the Virginia Baptist Disaster Response office to see what response might be available, and in conversations with local emergency management, an official request was made for a BGAV flood recovery team.

pine bluff arkansas virginia flood team
Flood recovery teams remove flooded wall and insulation to a level just above the flood line, ensuring the rebuilding process begins with a dry start.

Less than a month removed from the Pine Bluff callout, Assessor and Team Leader Paul McDaniel, a member of Belmont Baptist Church in Roanoke, packed up to lead the team to help residents in Pocahontas and Abbs Valley continue the cleanup process. The team included members from Roanoke, Saluda, Fredericksburg and our partners with the District of Columbi Baptist Convention’s Emergency Response Team.

Bluefield College, a BGAV educational partner, provided lodging, and local churches served a hot meal each evening for the team members.

“It takes a coordinated effort to mobilize a team and care for its ongoing needs,” said Aaron Lee, Virginia Baptist Disaster Response Coordinator.  Lee added, “We are so grateful to Bluefield College’s staff and the churches who supported this team.”

[box type=”shadow” ]

Learn more about Virginia Baptist Disaster Response and find out how you can join response efforts across the state and throughout North America.

Donate online or by mail to support Disaster Response, including these flood recovery responses.[/box]

Filed Under: DR Stories Tagged With: Disaster Relief & Response, Disaster Relief Report

Previous Post: « Tazewell County (Va.) Callout Notification
Next Post: Rebuilding the Temporary Childcare Unit »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

My Cart

Volunteer Resources

  • Volunteer Opportunities
  • Training Calendar
  • Spontaneous Volunteers
  • DR Gear

Training Calendar

  • View Full Training Calendar

Our Stories

Hurricane Harvey Liberty Texas Virginia Baptist Volunteers Serve

Through the Storms of Life, Virginia Baptists Respond

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHhqIJTtrnU?rel=0&showinfo=0 After Hurricane Irma made landfall in Florida, our feeding team left …

Continue Reading

More Stories

  • From Tornado to Hope
  • Generosity Makes Disaster Response Efforts Successful
  • Two Storms, One Family
  • Hearing Their Stories

Contact Us

Recent Volunteer Requests

  • Driver

    • Anywhere
    • VBDR
    • Volunteer
  • Operations Center Volunteer

    • Richmond, Virginia
    • VBDR
    • Volunteer

Footer

Hurricane Harvey Liberty Texas Virginia Baptist Volunteers Serve

Through the Storms of Life, Virginia Baptists Respond

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHhqIJTtrnU?rel=0&showinfo=0 After Hurricane Irma made …

Continue Reading

Volunteer Opportunities

  • Volunteer Opportunities
  • Training Calendar
  • Spontaneous Volunteers
  • DR Gear

Disaster Response Hotline
804-545-1212

Contact Us

Virginia Baptist Disaster Response
2828 Emerywood Parkway
Henrico, Virginia 23294

Virginia Baptist Disaster Response is supported by the BGAV© 2019 · BGAV · All Rights Reserved