Editor’s Note: We will update this story as information becomes available about USMB’s support for Eastern District congregations affected by Hurricane Helene.
In late September 2024, Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc across six Southeastern states, causing historic flooding, widespread power outages and a death toll topping 160 as of Tuesday, Oct. 1.
Helene is the second-deadliest hurricane to hit the U.S. in the last 50 years, as reported by CNN, and almost half of the deaths were in North Carolina.
Many of USMB’s seven Eastern District congregations in North Carolina have been affected, though Terry Hunt, pastor of The Life Center in Lenoir, says he is not aware of any MB church members who lost their lives.
“The hurricane hit our North Carolina church communities hard,” Hunt says via email. “No services were held on Sunday due to power outages. Many of our church families are still without power, and some are without water.”
Volunteers are helping with cleanup and providing food, water and gas, Hunt says.
The Lenoir area sustained primarily wind damage, according to Hunt, causing many downed trees and much property loss.
As of Wednesday, Oct. 2, people were still without power and water, says EDC co-minister James Moore.
“We still have power lines down, trees down on power lines and debris everywhere,” Moore says. “The power company is working tirelessly trying to get the areas clean. We still have a lot of areas that don’t have power and water, and the roads are impassable.”
Beechbottom MB Church pastor William Dugger has been unable to assess the damage at his church in Newland, N.C., because the roads are impassable.
“We are putting our trust in God to carry us through,” Dugger said to Hunt in a text message.
Boone MB Church was also in a hard-hit area in the mountains, Moore says, adding he has yet to hear from pastor Michael Mathes on the extent of the damage there.
Moore pastors West End MB Church in Lenoir, where power has been restored and only a few limbs have fallen.
The Life Center is coordinating a response, collecting donations and items to distribute to people in need, including food, water, diapers, baby formula, toiletries and other supplies.
Beginning Oct. 2, TLC served coffee and donuts and offered people a place to shower and charge their phones.
Hunt and Moore request prayer for displaced families and volunteers, shelters, recovery efforts, restoration of power and donations for supplies.
About the storm
Helene made landfall in northern Florida late Thursday, Sept. 26, as a Category 4 storm with wind speeds up to 140 miles per hour at landfall and moved north over a path of 800 miles, impacting Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee and Virginia.
Western North Carolina was hit especially hard, as the higher elevation and cooler air caused even more rain to fall.
The AP reports that at least 40 people died in Buncombe County, which includes the city of Asheville, about 60 miles southwest of Lenoir as the crow flies. Asheville and nearby mountain towns sit in valleys, making them more susceptible to flooding.
According to the National Weather Service, the ground was already saturated before the hurricane. Rainfall estimates exceeded 2 feet, causing the worst flooding in 100 years, washing out roads and leaving people without power.
According to CNN, some 400 roads were closed in North Carolina. People throughout the Southeast lacked running water, and 1.8 million homes and businesses still had no power on Monday, Sept. 30.
President Joe Biden on Sept. 26 approved an emergency declaration for the state of North Carolina, authorizing Federal assistance to coordinate disaster relief efforts. About 3,000 federal personnel have been deployed, according to Reuters.
Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) assessment teams and early response crews are also in North Carolina, where Executive Director Kevin King likens the damage to that of Hurricane Katrina, which hit the Northern Gulf Coast in 2005.
“It looks like ultimately the response from MDS could be a very large one,” reports King, who accessed some of the affected areas on Sept. 30, in a news story with the same date.
MDS is accepting monetary donations for relief efforts and has made a volunteer waitlist available for when the area is safe to access. To donate, visit www.mds.org/story/mds-responds-to-serious-needs-in-wake-of-hurricane-helene/.
Janae Rempel Shafer is the Christian Leader associate editor. She joined the CL staff in September 2017 with six years of experience as a professional journalist. Shafer is an award-winning writer, having received three 2016 Kansas Press Association Awards of Excellence and an Evangelical Press Association Higher Goals award in 2022. Shafer graduated from Tabor College in 2010 with a bachelor of arts in Communications/Journalism and Biblical/Religious Studies. She and her husband, Austin, attend Ridgepoint Church in Wichita, Kansas.
