Hurricane Helene and Milton Updates
Last Update: 22 October 2024
Current volunteer opportunties:
Mississippi Conference is currently looking for teams. Click here for more info.
Hurricanes Helene and Milton left significant damage to areas of the Southeast. Many communities are reeling from heavy rains which caused flooding in populated areas and first responders are still working around the clock to prepare the way for longer stages of response and recovery.
Below are a few general guidelines about volunteering, donating, and the best ways to help those affected.
General Rules:
Money is usually the best option to help those affected. Your gift to UMCOR or another vetted organization such as the Red Cross, will help those working to recover, give back to the local economies in the disaster area, and allow flexibility as supplies and needs can change rapidly.
Donations such as used clothes, furniture, or other items should not be donated unless an organization has made a direct appeal for those items. Even if used items are given with good intentions, they can make donation managment more difficult and [if given when not needed] simply add to trash piles.
Interest in volunteering always cresendos in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. But setting up effective volunteer networks takes time and should always come after first responders have been allowed to do their jobs. To the right is an illustration of a general timeline concerning responding to disasters in the United Methodist Church. Any Annual Conference who is seeking volunteer teams will put out a call through denominational networks, including UMVIM.
If you church is interested in putting together supply kits, please check UMCOR’s website to see if kits are needed, and if so, what supplies should go into them.
UMVIM will continue to serve as one of the communication streams during Hurricane Helene response and recovery as the situation progresses. For the latest news and information, we encourage you to check with your Annual Conference Disaster Coordinator for any information concerning volunteers and donations.
Below are links to each Annual Conference who has posted information about Disaster Response and Recovery for their UMC members:
Florida: https://www.flumc.org/2024-hurricane-season-updates
Alabama-West Florida: https://www.awfumc.org/newsdetail/18665887
North Georgia: https://www.ngumc.org/newsdetail/disaster-response-update-helene-18670010
South Georgia: https://www.sgaumc.org/disasterresponse
Western North Carolina: https://www.wnccumc.org/newsdetail/hurricane-helene-response-18662070
North Carolina: https://nccumc.org/helene/
South Carolina: https://www.umcsc.org/disaster/
Holston: https://www.holston.org/article/flood-news-blog-18662033
Virginia: https://vaumc.org/helene
