MDS volunteers start clean up after Hurricanes Helene and Milton

Mennonite Disaster Service is assessing response in North Carolina and prepares to begin clean up in Florida

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Hurricane Helene washed away this valley near the Garren Creek Fire Department in North Carolina near Asheville. Photo: MDS

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” says Daniel Zimmerman, a Mennonite Disaster Service volunteer from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, who came to western North Carolina the first week of October to help with initial cleanup following Hurricane Helene.

This week, Mennonite Disaster Service, the inter-Mennonite disaster relief agency in North America, is responding to two hurricanes. Hurricane Helene made landfall Sept. 26, tearing through parts of Florida and Georgia before devastating much of western North Carolina, ultimately causing more than 230 deaths. Milton made landfall Wednesday evening near Sarasota, Florida, bringing powerful winds, tornadoes and deadly floodwaters and as of Oct. 11, causing at least 16 deaths.

Back to work in Florida

On Oct. 10, 13 MDS volunteers in Port Charlotte, Florida evacuated to a Mennonite church in Homestead in anticipation of Hurricane Milton. MDS also moved trailers in Port Charlotte to a church property 70 miles away in Immokalee, Florida. MDS has a long-term project in Port Charlotte rebuilding from Hurricane Ira that caused record-breaking flooding in 2022.

By the morning of Oct. 10, the Port Charlotte volunteer team was taking a caravan of vehicles back to set up equipment again.

“We are hearing the roads are open,” said MDS executive director Kevin King. “They will be purchasing chainsaws and gear in Homestead as well as extra gas to take back with them, as their work might be clearing debris and tarping as necessary once they get back.”

MDS regional operations coordinator Larry Stoner says, “The volunteers want to help cut up trees and start mucking out houses that are flooded for the second time in two weeks.”

Yearlong volunteer Lucinda Shirk says that being immersed in evacuations, moving equipment, and round-the-clock news about hurricanes has only strengthened her faith in God. “Looking at the storms, and listening and reading all the talk on hurricanes is much like Peter stepping from the boat, beginning to walk on water—but then beginning to sink after he takes his focus off Jesus,” she says. “Keeping focused and staying focused on God, who never changes, brings peace and security.”

MDS assessment teams and early response crews are on the ground in western North Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which made landfall on Sept. 27. Photo: MDS

Unprecedented work in North Carolina

Meanwhile, in North Caroline, while Zimmerman was amazed at the devastation, he was also impressed by the community in which he was working. “I see all of the community coming together and just giving a hand,” he says.

As Zimmerman and other MDS volunteers worked to clear roads and remove trees, they coordinate with the local fire departments. “It was very awesome working with them, and we definitely found a lot of respect for them,” Zimmerman says

MDS Executive Director Kevin King spent a week in North Carolina, setting up a basecamp on the property of the MDS North Carolina Unit chair. He likened the level of destruction to that of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

“The sights, sounds, and smells still turn in my head,” King says. “I am grateful for our staff and volunteers who all are working long hours to respond.”

Mennonite Disaster Service executive director Kevin King, right, evaluates hurricane damage Oct. 1 in the Asheville, N.C., area. Photo: MDS

In an Oct. 3 interview with Anabaptist World, King said, “We rarely do this, but the fire companies have asked us to provide access to homes, they’re so overwhelmed.… There are 41 counties with disasters declared in six states. Katrina was only 30 counties and parishes.”

A crew of 30 volunteers from Ohio, Virginia and Pennsylvania along with Amish volunteers with Storm Aid began working Oct. 1 with chainsaws and skid steer loaders to clear fallen trees from miles of rural gravel roads in mountainous hollers so that emergency responders could reach homes. Some volunteers were dispatched to the Lenoir area, about an hour to the east, where several Mennonite Brethren congregations are clustered.

None of the seven MB congregations in North Carolina held worship services Sept. 29 due to power outages. The USMB churches reported that wind damage and debris led to significant property damage. The churches are working to distribute food, water and gas as they work at cleanup. Read more here.

MDS set up an initial base camp in Fairview, a small community near Asheville, at the home of MDS North Carolina unit chair Phil Troyer.

King reports that many parts of North Carolina had already received upwards of 9 inches of rain in the week leading up to the hurricane, which dumped an additional 30 inches in some locations.

“The heavens opened up, and it really cut loose,” King said. “The local fire chief said these little streams that were 2 or 3 feet wide turned into 300-foot-wide raging torrents.… Rarely have we ever been so close to search and rescue. Never in my 20 years have we been collaborating with them on clearing roads. I’ve never been asked to back off and call if you clear a space and smell something.”

“It looks like ultimately the response from MDS could be a very large one,” said King.

MDS is planning to begin scheduling volunteers when the area is safe to access, accommodations are secured, funds are in place and communities most in need have been identified. Volunteers are asked not to self-deploy.

Storm Aid leader Elam Stoltzfus (centre blue) welcomes new volunteers. Storm Aid is a pool of MDS volunteers from the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania area.

As assessments from King and other regional MDS leaders roll in, MDS continues to emphasize that monetary donations are best, as material goods such as clothing further burden the disaster-affected areas.

MDS has more than 200 volunteers on a list waiting to be called to respond as the work moves from opening up roads and clearing properties to mud-outs, fixing roofs and other tasks.

“There are early discussions about making temporary foot bridges for homeowners to cross the streams back to their homes,” King says. “An early report from the Federal Emergency Management Agency shows that there are over 600 private access bridges washed out—and the numbers are rising.”

One hundred percent of donations to MDS designated for Hurricane Helene will be used for the recovery effort.

Often the last to leave a disaster-affected community, MDS volunteers work to address unmet needs for the most vulnerable in the community.

Read MDS updates at https://mds.org/

This article uses multiple reports from Mennonite Disaster Service

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