Disaster Relief Teams Deployed to Kentucky Flooding

Ohio Disaster Relief (DR) brings practical help to those in need with the goal of sharing the hope found in Jesus. Ohio DR teams have been ministering in Kentucky following the extensive flooding in the southeastern area of the state.

The worst homes had six inches of thick mud with three to five feet of water inside. Many homes are a total loss because sewage has contaminated the flood waters in some areas.

Ohio DR volunteers Linda Humston, Lisa Jump and Jackie Lee are assessors who determine the needs of each family in need. Often the situations they see are not just physical, but also emotional and spiritual. The ladies met a man named Blaine, a retired heavy equipment operator living in Eastern Kentucky, and listened to his story.

The night of the flood, Blaine noticed water rising from the nearby creek. He gathered his wife, son, and eight neighbors and piled into his truck. They could not outrun the flood, so he chained his truck to a bridge. Throughout the night they called their families to say goodbye, not knowing if they would survive. They heard the cries of neighbors in need, but they could not help. When daybreak came, all eleven in the truck survived, but seven neighbors passed away.

Blaine’s story is just one of many in the six-county flood zone. The need is great; the work is hard; the humidity is high; but it is worth it. Ohio DR volunteer Mark Snowden, director of missional leadership for the Cincinnati Area Baptist Association (CABA), said, “You cannot pay me to do this kind of work, but I will do it for free all day long.”

In the last three months, twenty people have come to faith in Christ through the ministry of Ohio DR, including seven who accepted Christ in Kentucky.

Ohio DR has a unique opportunity to serve people in their time of greatest need. If you are ready to jump into this kind of service, go to scbo.org/DR and find out how you can take the first steps.