Hurricane Delta was a record-breaker, as it was the first hurricane with a Greek name to make landfall. According to weather.com, "Delta's landfall was the record 10th landfalling hurricane or tropical storm in the U.S. this season, which breaks the previous record of nine such landfalls in a season that had stood since 1916."

Of all the named storms in 2020, only one briefly touched Florida (Sally, but only as a tropical depression), while four have hit Louisiana. 

Friends, it has been just over seven weeks since Hurricane Laura made landfall. By wind speed, it was the strongest hurricane ever to hit the state of Louisiana. The sheer force of those winds caused over $10 billion in damage and took 77 lives. Virtually everyone in the corridor from Orange, Texas, all the way to Jennings, Louisiana, was affected by Hurricane Laura. Then Hurricane Delta hit virtually the exact same area, making landfall within miles of where Laura came ashore, bringing floods and dumping 17” or more of rain and taking 4 lives. 

One of the many reasons that churches and individuals support UBA is because we provide timely information about the greatest needs and point to vetted channels through which we can make a difference together. 

Our friends in Lake Charles specifically need our help. Power and water were just being restored when Hurricane Delta came through, and now many thousands of blue tarps have been torn off of roofs, more than 2,000 homes have been flooded, and the city must start the recovery process over again. 

Flooding in Lake Charles was worst in areas of the city with the highest density of renters living in homes. Many disaster relief organizations only work on homes where the owner is living in them. Renters, therefore, must get help from other organizations. Churches must rise up to address gaps in the system. 

Our friends to the east need us still. 

Many UBA churches have been active in Louisiana from the moment the storm passed, and if I tried to list them all, I would surely leave someone out. Suffice it to say that semi-trucks full of supplies, caravans of volunteers, and tens of thousands in donations have all been sent from UBA churches! Thank you!!

UBA is helping to lead a coalition of associations from Houston to Lake Charles to assist with the needs in the areas affected by Hurricane Laura. As UBA's Executive Director, I speak at least twice a week and sometimes daily with my counterparts in the Golden Triangle Baptist Network (Jim Turnbo, Beaumont-Port Arthur-Orange) and the Carey Baptist Association (Bruce Baker, Lake Charles). 

UBA is focused on helping churches across the Lake Charles metropolitan area—specifically in the underserved areas and by raising awareness of churches and pastors that may be so busy meeting the needs of their communities that they are not getting the help they need themselves. 

By and large, Lake Charles does not need supplies (though cleaning supplies can be donated through Houston Responds). The needs come down to funds and volunteers. 

Here are ways your church can be involved: 

1. VOLUNTEER CREWS

Whether your church organizes day trips from Houston self-sufficiently or sends walk-up volunteers to work with Samaritan’s Purse (who can handle up to 150 volunteers a day), Lake Charles is desperate for volunteers willing to serve. If your church would like to put together trips, there are churches in Orange and Port Arthur that will host volunteer teams (contact me for information) and a new location in Lake Charles where volunteers can stay (Operation Hope was damaged by Delta, they will be ready in a week or two). See also Houston Responds' volunteer page for more information. 

2. OPERATION HOPE: NORTH LAKE CHARLES RECOVERY

This is a new initiative started in the last week through the Carey Baptist Association that will feed, house, and direct volunteers to do work in the heart of underserved communities around Lake Charles. Supplies have been sent to this distribution site for a couple of weeks now, but the recent short-term partnership of lodging in a school with a shower and laundry capability is going to really help the area.   

3. CHURCHES NEED LONG-TERM FRIENDS

Lake Charles churches need Houston churches to be their friends. That means not just to supply some funds but also to send teams to help recover and rebuild. Or perhaps they need partners to offer advice and help them think through future decisions. Some churches will have to make decisions about relocating, staffing, or rebuilding priorities and will need experts from areas not inundated by the storm. 

4. ADOPT-A-PASTOR

More than a third of the Lake Charles association churches have pastors whose homes were severely damaged by the storm. These pastors and staff may need rental assistance or help meeting their deductibles, salary assistance since their entire congregation was affected by the storm, or help replacing libraries and other household items. 

To get involved with or learn more about any of these initiatives, please contact me directly. 

Funding for these initiatives can be directed to either of these locations:

UBA (designate for disaster relief)- everything will be sent to the Carey Baptist Association (Lake Charles, LA)

Carey Baptist Association (click the “Donate” button on the disaster relief page) 

There are a lot of things in the news these days. When Harvey was in the news, you couldn’t read a story or click a link without reading about how churches were helping churches get through that rough period. We’re the body of Christ, and if not for 140 miles, we’d be hoping for their help once again. Can you imagine getting hit twice in a six week period?! Let’s remind our Cajun neighbors that we’re in this together, and we’re #BetterTogether. 

Josh Ellis is Executive Director of Union Baptist Association. He has a PhD in Leadership Studies and has served on the UBA staff since 2005. With both practical and scholarly knowledge, he leads the association into innovative collaboration for the sake of strategic gospel advancement.

Photo by J W on Unsplash