fbpx
×

Log into your account

We have changed software providers for our subscription database. Old login credentials will no longer work. Please click the "Register" link below to create a new account. If you do not know your new account number you can contact [email protected]
Cleanup crews tackle ‘worse’ devastation
Julie Moore, Baptist Press
May 17, 2011
4 MIN READ TIME

Cleanup crews tackle ‘worse’ devastation

Cleanup crews tackle ‘worse’ devastation
Julie Moore, Baptist Press
May 17, 2011

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The piercing roar of a chainsaw is

typically nothing more than loud racket to most people. But to those who

suffered horrific devastation from the tornadoes that ripped through Alabama,

the sound couldn’t be sweeter when coming from Southern Baptist Disaster Relief

teams aiding in needed cleanup efforts.

Pulling into storm-ravaged areas, these caravans of cleanup and recovery

volunteers arrive eager to help. Sporting bright yellow disaster relief

T-shirts, they bring with them loads of their own heavy equipment packed into

trailers and trucks.

These particular crews work alongside other emergency personnel to aid

communities during the aftermath of mass destruction as first responders in the

rebuilding process.

Each team usually entails 10 to 12 volunteers from a particular Baptist church

or association dispatched through the state organization.

Ron Warren serves as state coordinator of cleanup, recovery and chainsaw for

Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief.

The crews labor fervently, up to 10 or 12 hours a day, by assisting in cleanup

duties that include cutting downed trees and heavy limbs and removing debris

from yards.

“It’s pretty intensive work,” said Larry Teel, director of the Rapid Response

Assessment Team and command center team leader in Tuscaloosa.

With wind speeds estimated by the National Weather Service of more than 200 mph

in some areas April 27, entire neighborhoods were left with hardly a tree

standing.

Generally half of a team’s members are trained in chainsaw safety, Teel said;

the others work to remove fallen or cut tree limbs from the property they are

serving.

“All the people on the team are trained in cleanup/recovery and a limited

number are trained in chainsaw safety,” he said.

Alabama Baptists began an initial drive-through assessment in Tuscaloosa April

28, the day after the storms hit, to determine how extensive the damage was. By

the next morning, teams were on the ground working with chainsaws, removing

debris and cutting trees that had landed on residents’ houses, cars and

driveways.

“I’ve been involved in disaster relief since 1979…. I’ve not seen devastation

as concentrated as this was, as severe as it was,” Teel said. “The devastation

in the impact area is worse than I have ever seen. It is just unreal. It’s

going to be a real long-term recovery, even from our aspect of getting trees

removed from properties.”

Five teams were on the ground in the Tuscaloosa area with 70 to 80 volunteers

assisting in cleanup and recovery efforts. Teel said they continue to pick up

new jobs every day and had completed more than 60 jobs.

Cottondale Baptist Church, part of the Tuscaloosa Baptist Association, has been

the team’s host church, feeding and housing the disaster relief workers.

More than 40 other cleanup and recovery teams were serving in nine other areas

across the state.

Tom Cole, leader of the Manatee Southern Baptist Association disaster relief

cleanup and recovery team from Florida, traveled with his team to serve in

Jasper. They arrived May 2 and began work the next morning. Cole said the most

rewarding aspect of serving on a cleanup team is the help, healing and hope

they can help provide storm victims.

Helping people secure their homes and clear debris and helping them heal by

listening to what they’ve been through are extremely important, Cole said.

“But the most important thing is the hope, and the hope that we can bring the

salvation of Jesus Christ to their lives.”

Teel asked Southern Baptists to pray for the teams.

“We need prayer for safety (physical and emotional),” he said.

Training is required for those interested in joining disaster relief teams, and

specific training pertaining to chainsaw safety is offered through various

state conventions. (Contact your state convention for more information.) Those

who pass the course receive a chainsaw patch to be worn on the right sleeve.

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Moore is a correspondent for The Alabama Baptist.)

(SPECIAL NOTE — Thank you for your continued support of the Biblical

Recorder site. During this interim period while we are searching for a new

Editor/President the comments section will be temporarily discontinued. Thank

you for your understanding and patience in this. If you do have comments or

issues with items we run, please contact [email protected]

or call 919-847-2127.)