DORENA, Mo. — When
the U.S. Army Corps Engineers blew the Birds Point levee along the Mississippi
River May 2, the waters washed away as many as 100 homes and
133,000 acres of fertile farmland. It also flooded a small Southern Baptist
church.
“The church is gone,” said LeRoy Davenport, pastor of Dorena
Baptist Church.
“I’ve seen aerial pictures, and it’s gone.”
The church building is still there, but at one point the muddy waters were up
to the edge of the roof. The day after Mother’s Day, when the National Guard
allowed property owners to inspect their homes via boats, a man reported to Davenport
that he stood in the window ledge and could see pews floating inside.
The church had been around since 1946 and had never had floodwater in it,
though it came close a few times.
When the floodway was activated, it was done so in part to save the town of Cairo,
Ill., which experienced a record
crest along the Mississippi River and a swollen Ohio
River. With rain continuing and water levels at historic levels,
the Corps said there was “no way to stop all flooding, but rather to do our
best to reduce the risk to life and property in the region.”
Photo by Bob Greenlee Joann Hahs of First Baptist Church in Oak Ridge and Dan Dickerson of First Baptist Church in Millersville prepare trays of food for flood victims at the feeding station at First Baptist Church in Morehouse, Mo. |
This spring the Mississippi River has experienced
precipitation 125 to 150 percent above normal. Corps experts estimate it will
take up to two months for water to recede from the floodway, assuming there is
no additional rainfall.
After the water has receded, it will take another 20 to 30 days for the land to
dry out.
If there’s an upside to the manmade flood, it’s that the residents of the floodplain
and members of Dorena Baptist at least had some warning. Most of the church’s
small membership lived outside the floodplain in East Prairie, but two who
lived in mobile homes had to move the homes to higher ground and are now out of
work.
“We knew it was coming, and kept praying,” Davenport
said. “We got the piano, pulpit and Lord’s Supper table out, but not
everything. The rest of it is gone. The brick on one side of the building is
gone, too. Then, if the water goes down like they’re telling us, there may not
be any roads left.”
Davenport said there isn’t a lot to
be cheery about and recovery is going to be hard work, but he sees a glimmer of
hope in the dark waters. There are lots of discussions floating around,
including rebuilding and permanently relocating.
“Maybe God just wanted us to move this church into town,” he said, referring to
East Prairie. “Whatever He wants, that’s what we’ll do. There’s no growth
possibility in Dorena simply because there’s nobody down there. It’s hard to
leave the site of your home church, but maybe this is what God wants us to do.”
Volunteers needed
In addition to Dorena Baptist, two other Missouri Baptist churches flooded in
the recent surge of the Mississippi River. Shining Light
Baptist Church
in Charleston and Hooe
Baptist Church
in Oran also were impacted. First
Baptist Church
in Morehouse has been among those to open as a shelter.
Volunteers are needed for large-scale cleanup as the water recedes.
Rick Seaton, a men’s ministry specialist with the Missouri Baptist Convention
and the state’s disaster relief coordinator, said he anticipates at least a
two- or three-week response in the area.
“We currently have mud-out teams beginning in the Poplar
Bluff area and are presently looking into the need for
other areas,” he said. (Volunteers need to go through their state convention’s disaster recovery unit or through the North American Mission Board.)
In St. Louis, the chainsaw work in
the wake of the Good Friday tornadoes is finished. St. Louis Metro Baptist
Association and local churches report that they anticipate being able to
fulfill any further requests for assistance. The official disaster relief
response site has been shut down.
“Some have been on this site for over two weeks straight, and there were around
328 jobs completed,” Seaton said. “We are very thankful to everyone both in
state and out of state who have responded and helped in this area.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Koonce is a staff writer for The Pathway, newsjournal of the
Missouri Baptist Convention.)
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