Brethren Disaster Ministries director makes visit to area affected by Hurricane Helene

A report provided by Jenn Dorsch-Messler

The director of Brethren Disaster Ministries, Jenn Dorsch-Messler, traveled through Virginia and North Carolina the week of Oct. 21 to visit with Church of the Brethren district and church leaders. The trip responded to the impact of Hurricane Helen in both states.

Helene, which made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend area on Sept. 26, caused devastation and more than 230 deaths in its journey across Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee.

The bulk of the deaths and catastrophic damage occurred in areas that are part of the Church of the Brethren’s Southeastern District, as the storm unleashed 12 to 31 inches of rain in an area already saturated by previous rainfall, causing massive flooding and landslides. FEMA currently reports that in North Carolina alone more than 250,000 households have applied for assistance.

The trip included two visits to Taylors Valley, Va., to meet with Southeastern District leadership and members of Walnut Grove Church of the Brethren who have been responding in their community. The church had several rooms full of supplies that the group is working on distributing to those in need. Many of those donations and kits were gathered from Virlina District and Shenandoah District, and were delivered there by members of Virlina District a few weeks earlier.

The visits provided the opportunity to meet the faithful church members who are doing all they can to help to those in need, which included providing the church parking lot for shower trailers and other trailers from FEMA, the Red Cross, and other responding organizations.

A tour of the area showed where the house used to be, with only the front steps remaining, and where parts of the structure now lay, torn apart in a nearby field (see photos at left).

One section, with three rooms, was where the McMurrays were while the house was being washed away. Carl was thrown from the house during the night and was rescued by a helicopter after clinging to a tree for three hours. He is still recovering from some of his injuries, but it has not slowed him down. Linda spent 16 hours trapped by trees, debris, and water in the middle room of the house while repeating scripture and singing hymns to the Lord.

During the tour, the group met the man who found Linda the next morning. When she introduced him as the person who saved her, his response was, “I may have rescued you, but I was not the one that saved you.” Despite their traumatic experience, the McMurrays were busy helping others affected by the flooding. You can hear more of their story at this link: https://youtu.be/orWVWh9cZ4w?si=NZ_sx6l-P51_ndAm.

Dorsch-Messler also visited and stayed at Camp Carmel, a camp and outdoor ministry center of Southeastern District in Newland, N.C. The camp, led by director Erica Leeds, is typically preparing to close down for the winter at this time of year, but has instead been very busy supporting the community with relief supplies and other services that they had never imagined would be needed. The kitchen and dining area of the camp lodge were filled with a range of items, from blankets to mold remediation spray to baby supplies, that they were working to get out to those in need.

The camp had even hosted a community meal for around 175 people the week before. This provided the first hot meal since the hurricane for some of those who attended. Some families took the food in to-go containers donated by a Church of the Brethren congregation in the district, while others stayed to talk and share their experiences with each other. Leeds and Camp Carmel have many connections in the area, with service opportunities related to a camp they run in the summer, so they have been able to network and find out how the camp can help in the best ways possible.

A final stop in North Carolina was a visit with the Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) team that was serving at a Family Assistance Center in Asheville, N.C. The team was there to support families who came in to learn about and apply for assistance. Families affected by Hurricane Helene were certainly experiencing trauma from the event itself, but also from the number of causalities that occurred in the aftermath.

On the drive back north, Dorsch-Messler stopped to meet with the Virlina District staff and leaders who had been coordinating collections of in-kind and financial donations to support Southeastern District and its efforts. Several groups of volunteers have completed deliveries to Camp Carmel and Walnut Grove Church of the Brethren. Some of these items were dropped off at the Virlina District office, while the bulk of the donations were collected at Summerdean Church of the Brethren, both located in Roanoke, Va.

Be in prayer for all those impacted and responding to these hurricane disasters in a six-state area. Brethren Disaster Ministries will continue to be in touch with leaders in Southeastern District for ways to support the recovery in the weeks, months, and years to come. Current support has included an Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) grant to purchase mold remediation and other supplies, and an EDF grant to Southeastern District to respond to immediate needs. Another possible grant may be made to Camp Carmel to support its efforts.