With recent tornadoes on back-to-back weekends rocking Jones County, the Jones County Baptist Association’s Disaster Relief Team has been a welcome sight to many residents. Hours after a registered EF-2 tornado swept through the Sharon and Shady Grove communities in Jones County, volunteers quickly responded to help those in need.
“The first thing we did was try to get an assessment to find where exactly the damage was,” said Bro. Allen Nix, Jones County Association Director, “We determine if we as volunteers are capable to assist, then we match bigger equipment for larger jobs. The organization and coordination is a big part of it all. We help provide a coordinating point to help in disaster areas and respond to help.”
Nix stated that he had never witnessed anything quite like this in the county before with tornadoes occurring so quickly, but, it has made their team more efficient in how to respond to events like these that have occurred.
“The good thing about this is we have gotten better. We are responding quicker. It has been fabulous to watch the groundswell of support. As of Tuesday, related to the jobs that we have coordinated and worked with the Soso location and here, we have mobilized 400 volunteers, five states have been involved [Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, and South Carolina], 89 churches have responded, 6,000 meals have been given out, and close to 150 jobs have been completed. The damage is a little different here, but we have been out assessing and many people have already been out cutting trees and helping their neighbors. It is a wonderful thing to see.”
“Thank goodness we had a folder full of people who were willing to come and help,” said Rena Register from the Disaster Relief Team.
“We were able to contact folks and steer them to this direction [Sharon and Shady Grove]. We have teams that came throughout the week to help at First Baptist Soso and First Baptist of Sharon. What we have found is a lot of the houses aren’t necessarily destroyed, but there are trees laid down everywhere.”
Like Nix, Register has not witnessed anything quite like the storms that have passed through despite working and assisting people through many disasters.
“I have never seen anything like this. I worked hurricane Sandy in New York, and most of us went through Katrina, but to see devastation back-to-back like this, I have not. I’ll tell you though, we were better prepared for this because of what happened last time. It is not like we are in a panic. Things came together so well at First Baptist Soso, it has been a perfect team. The right people have been in place, the right volunteers have been in place, and once we got our bearings about us, we were able to move quickly. It has been the hand of God to put people in place.”
Register is thankful for the people who have volunteered throughout the process and churches like First Baptist of Sharon who has let them set up to serve.
“In a sense, we have been ready to come here to First Baptist of Sharon and help. People here have been kind with their donations and we have gotten the things we have needed to get things done.”
If you would like to volunteer or give, you can contact the Jones County Baptist Association.