The following is excerpted from the Church Newsroom. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
In a period of six weeks, three hurricanes struck the U.S. Gulf Coast from Southeast Texas to the Florida Panhandle. Wherever disasters occur, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints organizes before and after to provide a helping hand.
The Church is often among the first organizations to respond to disasters. “We’ve learned [disaster preparedness over the years] as a Church … we do really well [in assisting] when we have a quick response,” said Michael Lavoie, an area welfare specialist covering the Southeast United States.
For the past four weekends, Lavoie has overseen the command center operations in Pensacola, Florida, following Hurricane Sally, a Category 2 storm, which made landfall along the Alabama coast in mid-September. The hurricane brought 100-mile-per-hour winds and millions of dollars in damage to homes and property in the region.
More than 1,600 Latter-day Saint Helping Hands volunteers wearing yellow shirts from congregations in Alabama, Georgia, and northern and central Florida gathered on Friday through Sunday, October 16–18, 2020, in Pensacola and Daphne, Alabama, to help residents they have never met. The volunteers, including many families, cut down fallen trees, protected damaged roofs with tarps, and prayed together.
During the four weekends of service, more than 6,000 Latter-day Saints cleaned up over 3,000 homes damaged by Hurricane Sally.
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
