Responding to Hurricane Idalia: ERTs needed

Idalia made landfall along the coast of Florida's Big Bend around 8 am August 30, 2023, and continued its way across Florida and into Georgia throughout the day Wednesday.

At this time, the South Georgia Conference disaster response team, under the direction of Luis Morales, is communicating with local Georgia officials and pastors in affected communities. 

"I am thankful that Hurricane Idalia came and went," said Morales. "In its path we now have neighbors with no electricity, debris in their property, and even damage from flooding. I pray for continued safety to survivors, first responders and volunteers."

He is now encouraging trained early responders to look at their calendars and find time to volunteer and apply the skills they were trained for.

Early Response Teams
Right now there is an immediate need in the Lowndes County and surrounding areas for work teams. Trained ERT are already on the ground this week from South Georgia, North Georgia, and South Carolina. 

We are thankful to Camp Tygart in Ray City for offering lodging to our teams and to the North Georgia Conference for bringing down a solar power trailer from Footprint Project. Also, thanks to South Georgia United Methodists, cleaning buckets and hygiene kits were delivered to Valdosta over the weekend. The North Georgia Conference also delivered a truck load of cleaning buckets on Monday. 

Please contact Kelly Crane (kelcrane@gmail.com), Glenn Martin (gmartin0704@gmail.com), or Luis Morales (ert@sgaumc.com) to schedule your ERT team or yourself to be part of a team. As always, don’t self-deploy to a disaster area. Our disaster response team is working with local officials in affected areas to coordinate with their local disaster response efforts. 

Financial Gifts 
Your financial gift to UMCOR is especially appreciated as our giving is flexible in application and offers high impact. Monetary donations can be given to our disaster Conference Advance Special #6796 - South Georgia Storm Relief by sending to PO Box 7227, Macon, GA 31209 or click here to give online.  You can also give directly to UMCOR US Disaster Response and Recovery Advance #901670.