Baptist aid blows into town with hurricane_72803

Posted: 7/25/03

Baptist aid blows into town with hurricane

By Jenny Hartgraves

Texas Baptist Communications

The papers reported Claudette wasn't that bad of a hurricane, but thousands of people fed by Texas Baptist Men might tell a different story.

Southeast Texas residents turned to the Baptist feeding units for more than 32,000 meals during the five days after Hurricane Claudette's fury crippled patches of the region.

Winds blew as strong as 80 miles per hour, and up to 8 inches of rain left portions of Palacios, Port Lavaca and Victoria powerless and drenched for days. Roofs and branches were flung haphazardly through the air, landing where nature left them.

Summer staffers from Texas Baptist Encampment at Palacios by the Sea unload food after campers were evacuated to a safe location.

Citizens slowly stumbled through the streets, blankly staring at the unexpected damage from the storm that was barely classified as a hurricane.

Hope and help came in the form of warm smiles beneath yellow Texas Baptist Men caps and shining Victim Relief Ministries trailers. Four feeding units, two shower units, a chainsaw unit and several clean-up units traveled from around the state to serve in Southeast Texas.

The volunteers served thousands of meals at Baptist churches in Katy, Bay City, Port Lavaca and Victoria. Clean-out units worked in Goliad. Shower units served in Katy and Port Lavaca. A Victim Relief Ministries unit also set up at First Baptist Church in Palacios and later moved to Victoria.

Texas Baptist Men began their work the night before the hurricane made landfall, aiding in the evacuation of more than 400 youth from the Texas Baptist Encampment Palacios by the Sea. The youth were beginning the weeklong OneCamp when they were relocated to First Baptist Church in Katy.

The next day, the camp site suffered severe damage as every building but one lost a wall or roof. High winds crushed an outdoor worship tabernacle.

The church and the city immediately came to the campers' aid, donating food, drinks and plenty of entertainment. Texas Baptist Men units provided meals and showers for the rest of the week.

“We were overwhelmed by the amount of cooperation met in the middle,” said Jim Kluttz, director of OneCamp. “The community of Katy embraced us. We could almost drown our kids in bottled water and soda.”

Victim Relief units were quickly on the scene to counselthe campers when needed, begin damage assessment in the region and console local victims immediately after the storm.

“The faster you get into an area, the more beneficial you are to the people who walk out of their homes dazed and traumatized from the storm,” said Gene Grounds, director of Victim Relief Ministries.

The pier at Texas Baptist Encampment offers a perilous path after its encounter with Hurricane Claudette.

In Palacios, Texas Baptist Men chaplains set up a trailer in the parking lot of First Baptist Church the night after the storm, and they were surprised when more than 50 people came to them needing food, Grounds said.

Within an hour, they finessed a make-shift feeding line at the camp. Texas Baptist Men, members of First Baptist Church and the Salvation Army used gas burners and flashlights to cook without electricity. They fed more than 400 people.

“We had prayed for God to send us where the people were hurting, and he did,” Grounds said. “It was an impromptu ministry and feeding unit. Incredible spiritual things happened as a result.”

Texas Baptist Men served similarly large groups everywhere they went, according to Grounds. The chaplaincy unit met with more than 300 people a day in Palacios and Victoria, and they had plenty of opportunities to share their faith and put people in contact with local church pastors.

“Every volunteer in there sees it as their ministry to respond to the physical needs of people in trauma,” Grounds said. “People are open to tell us about their story and hardships. They just appreciate that someone cares.”

Gov. Rick Perry may have described the work of Texas Baptist Men most succinctly during his visit to Port Lavaca.

“These men and women are the best in the country when it comes to disaster relief,” Perry said. “Texas Baptist Men could feed this entire community if they needed to.”

Gov. Rick Perry speaks with Texas Baptist Men volunteers Ben Freeman and Jim Southerland after a news conference in Port Lavaca, in which the governor praised the Baptist men's group for its ability. At left, summer staffers from Texas Baptist Encampment at Palacios by the Sea unload food after campers were evacuated to a safe location. Inset: The pier at Texas Baptist Encampment offers a perilous path after its encounter with Hurricane Claudette.Jenny Hartgraves/BGCT