Helene Unleashed “Faith-Based FEMA”

Anne Stych of Good Shepherd Anglican Church in Cornelius, N.C. buying supplies for Hurricane Helene victims. - MinistryWatch

 By Warren Cole Smith - Posted at MinistryWatch:

Published October 4, 2024

Government has a role, but churches & Christian ministries are “new paradigm” for disaster relief

The whole world is now seeing what the people of western North Carolina have lived through this past week. Those sights are generating shock and awe. The strength of the storm and the magnitude of the destruction are stunning. The scale of the devastation is now becoming clear. Western North Carolina will not be back to normal for months, perhaps years. It is also clear that whatever “normal” looked like, the new normal will be different. This storm has recalibrated where and how thousands of people will live from now on.

I live in Charlotte, two hours east of Asheville. We were spared the worst effects of the storm, but even here we see ripple effects. With I-40 and I-26 closed through the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, traffic has been diverted for hundreds of miles in all directions. Charlotte-area interstates are now clogged at most hours of the day or night. My own schedule has been altered. I planned to meet with MinistryWatch supporters in Asheville next week, but the restaurant in Biltmore Village where we planned to meet is now full of mud. That trip is now (obviously) not happening.

Tuesday night I sat outside with a friend, and our conversation was interrupted repeatedly by helicopters passing overhead, headed west with supplies. The shelves of the big-box stores here in Charlotte are mostly empty of bottled water and other essential items. These are, of course, minor inconveniences, mere trifles compared to what the people of western North Carolina are facing, but they have provided me with a reality check. It’s clear that Helene’s impact has been rippling out from western North Carolina.

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