By Baptist Message staff
AVOYELLES PARISH, La. (LBM) – The first Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief teams have been activated for a response to Tropical Storm Arthur.
LBDR State Director Stan Statham told the Baptist Message that a feeding team served 64 evacuees and first responders on Thursday at Cochon De Lait Center in Mansura, which is serving as an American Red Cross shelter
Mud-out teams are expected to clean up homes for the next several weeks throughout Avoyelles Parish
Additionally, a chainsaw team from First Baptist Church, Slidell, cleared debris from homes in their community on Thursday.
Damage reports from churches include leaking roof at First Baptist Church, Avondale, six inches of water inside the education building at St. Rose Baptist Church. Flooding also was reported in the home of Carlos Gomez, pastor with Iglesia Bautista La Vina, Westwego.
“Pray for the water to go down,” Statham told the Baptist Message. “Pray for the folks who have a lot of material loss. And pray for the first responders, who have damage in their own homes as they try to take care of the own parish.”
Arthur made landfall Wednesday morning, northeast of Matagorda Bay, Texas. While rain totals varied, the highest report was more than two feet in Avoyelles Parish, which prompted numerous evacuations.
KALB-TV in Alexandria reported that first responders from communities near Simmesport used boats to rescue more than a dozen families in the area. In Bordelonville, a man was shown rescuing three pigs from his camp near Bayou Des Glaises. Additionally, KALB reported that Avoyelles Manor Nursing Home in Plaucheville was evacuated due to flooding.
The National Weather Service released a preliminary statement on Thursday regarding the rain in Avoyelles Parish:
“While statistics way out are questionable, we look to be above 1000 year or a probability of any individual location receiving this much rainfall in any given year being 0.01% chance.”
In New Orleans, three tornadoes were confirmed in East Jefferson and Orleans, Houma and Jefferson parishes.
WDSU-TV in New Orleans reported that powerful winds shattered windows, damaged roofs and left residents trapped inside damaged homes in Avondale and that heavy rainfall in Kenner caused dozens of vehicles to be stranded at flooded intersections and that access to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport was temporarily cut off.
Gov. Jeff Landry declared a state of emergency for six parishes in response to Arthur: Avoyelles, Lafourche, Pointe Coupee, St. Landry, St. Tammany and Terrebonne parishes.
To give to DR efforts, visit https://louisianabaptists.org/about/teams/missions-ministry/disaster-relief/donate/
