DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief (DR) continues to help those affected by Hurricane Ian in the Daytona Beach area and areas in northeast Florida that initially were overlooked by national leaders.
Southwest areas of the state were more noticeably affected by the hurricane, but Sam Porter, interim state DR director in Oklahoma, said DR team members are finding even more northeast Florida homes have experienced flood damage.
“They are finding hundreds of homes, more than they thought,” Porter said. “There’s one area they found that’s got 700 homes, a little further from Daytona, that’s got flood waters in it and may not go down for two or three more weeks.”
Porter said things are going well for DR team members who are stationed at Daytona Beach, Fla., First. Currently 140 jobs of chainsaw and mud-out work have been requested, and DR is “adding more every day.”
“It takes about a day and half per house (for DR service),” Porter said. “We desperately need volunteers lined up from now until mid-December. Most people don’t know what to do when a house floods. But we do, and we have another 40 people ready to go on Friday (Oct. 14) on a rotation.”
Porter encouraged people to attend Disaster Relief Orientation and Credentialing this Saturday, Oct. 15, 8 a.m.-2 p.m., at the DR TEAM Center in Okarche, 7180 N.W. Expressway.
“We currently have 65 people coming to the training (on Saturday),” Porter said. “If people want to go (serve DR in Florida), if they come to the training and pass a background check, they can go in the next few weeks.”
Porter said DR teams from Virginia, Idaho and Utah will be joining Oklahoma Baptist DR in the coming weeks to serve in the Daytona Beach area.
DR volunteers that have already been trained and certified and able to serve in Daytona Beach are asked to contact the DR office at 405/942-3800 ext. 4336 or pjones@oklahomabaptists.org.
DR team members in Daytona Beach have reported one profession of faith in Christ has resulted so far from their service. Overall, 45 professions of faith have been reported as a result of DR serving in Florida after Hurricane Ian.
For more information and to make a financial donation, visit okdisasterhelp.org.