A Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief team from Forest Hills Baptist Church helps clear away a fallen tree, just some of the damage to hit Middle Tennessee in the wake of Winter Storm Fern. – Photo by Chris Turner
Note: This story has been updated.
FRANKLIN — Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief (TBDR) deployed half a dozen teams across Middle and West Tennessee to assist residents affected by the severe ice storm that left thousands without power and caused widespread damage.
Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, said teams began responding in their local areas after the storm passed, focusing on a 150-mile-wide swath from Robertson County southeast to McNairy County.
“Middle Tennessee is the hardest hit area,” Jones said on Jan. 28. The region has experienced extensive power outages, downed trees, and dangerous road conditions. The 1994 ice storm remains one of the worst on record for Tennessee, though Jones said the current storm’s impact rivals that event in severity.
There have been at least 21 deaths across the state related to Winter Storm Fern, according to the Tennessee Department of Health. More than half a million people nationally experienced power outages as of Jan. 27. By Jan. 30, Tennessee customers without power declined from a peak of 380,000 to around 100,000.
DR teams in Tennessee are conducting chainsaw work to remove trees blocking entryways and from houses, as well as helping residents without power relocate to warming shelters or family members’ homes.
Jones said response efforts will likely continue for at least a month.
“The main challenges are just the roads,” Jones said, noting ice-covered streets in residential areas where plows don’t typically operate have become treacherous.
A major concern is also water line breaks as temperatures rise and pipes in abandoned, unheated homes begin to thaw. Jones said 26 water departments across the states were already experiencing problems by Monday.
Additionally, a team of 60 to 70 volunteers from North Carolina arrived Wednesday to set up operations in Linden and surrounding Perry County communities to help with providing hot meals.
A separate feeding unit based at Englewood Baptist in Jackson traveled to Selmer to provide three meals daily for up to 200 utility linemen working to restore power in McNairy County.
Randy C. Davis, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board president and executive director, said churches across the state have stepped up to serve their communities.
“It’s also been remarkable seeing churches doing what they can in their own communities,” Davis wrote. “God sees it and a spiritually lost world is taking notes that the church really does care.”
Davis cited pastor Scott Patty of Grace Community Church in Nashville, who received a call in the middle of the night that a nursing home had lost power and needed to evacuate residents. Patty immediately mobilized church members to move elderly patients into the church facility, where they provided musical entertainment, meals, and companionship.
“Those kinds of stories can be repeated many times,” Davis wrote. “Simple showing up and doing what you can where you are with what you have is a great salt and light testimony.”
Local churches are also coordinating with Salvation Army to provide meals for National Guard members deployed to six locations across the state. Because the Guard members are spread out in small groups, Jones said it wasn’t practical to set up a feeding unit.
“I’ve worked a lot with the Harvest Field leaders, and they have helped me connect with local churches,” said Jones.
He added TBDR is reimbursing churches for the meals and encouraged residents to donate directly to local warming shelters, noting their need for blankets and food supplies. TBDR is establishing an incident command center at the Mission Mobilization Center in Mt. Juliet. B&R — Individuals interested in serving with TBDR should contact Wes Jones (wjones@tnbaptist.org), Garry Maddox (gmaddox@tnbaptist.org) or Elizabeth Holmes (eholmes@tnbaptist.org). Donations to Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief can be made online at tndisasterrelief.org/contributions.
