SBTC DR teams head to Louisiana as Hurricane Ida hits on Katrina anniversary

By Jane Rodgers
August 30, 2021

FOREST HILL, La. Sixteen years ago to the day following Hurricane Katrina’s landfall in Louisiana, Hurricane Ida struck the Bayou State with a vengeance on Sunday, Aug. 29. Even before the storm hit, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief volunteers deployed while others prepared to do so, SBTC DR Director Scottie Stice told the TEXAN. A command post and incident management team left Texas on Aug. 29 for the Tall Timbers Baptist Conference Center at Forest Hill, La. There they will assist Louisiana Baptist DR to coordinate statewide efforts. A mass feeding unit from the Unity Association is scheduled to leave Monday, Aug. 30 to support Salvation Army efforts at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales, La. The feeding volunteers will be joined by an SBTC DR shower and laundry unit. Also departing Aug. 30 for Louisiana will be a chainsaw unit from Beaumont’s Calvary Baptist. The chainsaw volunteers will help clear downed trees. All other ministry areas are at alert status, Stice said. Teams will adhere to current COVID-19 protocols, he added. Stice asked for prayer for the following:

DR volunteers as they serve Louisiana and other affected states
SBTC DR volunteers and the Salvation Army personnel as they serve survivors in Gonzales
Protection for all from COVID-19
Opportunities to share the gospel

SBTC DR: a Louisiana legacy Sixteen years ago, the devastation of Katrina also marked the first major deployment of SBTC DR, the now familiar—and 6,000 strong—yellow hats and yellow shirts joining 41 other state Baptist DR teams to bring hope, help and healing in crisis. Gibbie McMillan—who later became Louisiana Baptist DR director—was the SBTC DR director during Katrina. Stice recalled being sent to Baton Rouge by McMillan with a recovery unit from Uvalde to do mud out and chainsaw work. “We built off his shoulders,” Stice said of McMillan who died earlier in August of COVID-19. “Now we will have another chance to assist our friends in Louisiana.”